Keeping Secrets
by NoShoesNoShirtNoSheldon
Summary: PART ONE OF THE SECRETS TRILOGY: Buford Von Stomm always prided himself on being the toughest and the meanest. All that is about to change when someone finds out his darkest secret and threatens to tell the whole school if Buford doesn't do what he wants. And what does he want? For Buford to make Baljeet Rai fall in love with him, of course. SLASH, Bujeet, BSquared.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! I've decided to write my first chapter fic for the Phineas and Ferb fandom, and its Bujeet, because we need a little more of that in the world. Can you say OTP?**

**I apologize in advance for the OC. I promise he won't be one of those annoying ones that hook up with one of the characters to create jealousy and sexual tension. I hate OCs. But the story demands it!**

**Hope you guys enjoy! (And, as a warning, I've completely disregarded Buford's parents from the show and made my own because I can't actually remember them. I'll base his mother off what I've seen from other fics, hopefully she'll turn out accurate?)**

**Also, the statistics I included are for my country, I think. But whatever, they don't have to be accurate.**

**WARNING: slash, boy love, guy on guy. Don't like it, don't read. Mentions of rape. **

**Disclaimer: if I actually owned anything, we all know Phineas and Ferb would be together. But alas~**

**Enjoy!**

Xoxoxo

Buford Van Stomm's day went from bad to utterly shit in five minutes flat. He'd woken up late and had to hurry to get ready while his friend/nerd/enemy, Baljeet Rai, tapped his foot impatiently in the doorway of his bedroom and checked his watch. They'd had to walk rather quickly to make it to school on time, and when they'd finally arrived, they learned they were having an assembly instead of first period. It annoyed both boys. Baljeet because he was missing out on precious school time, and Buford because he was missing the only subject he actually enjoyed- P.E.

For Buford, this was only at the crappy stage. It was only when they sat down in the assembly and the guest speakers began their little presentation that everything went downhill. Buford was sitting smack bang in the middle of the hall, Baljeet on one side and Phineas Flynn on the other. As the speakers organized everything and began introducing themselves, Buford pulled a scrap piece of paper from his bag and tore little pieces off, flicking them at Baljeet every few seconds. The smaller boy's fists clenched, but he said nothing.

This continued for several minutes, until the Indian 16-year-old turned to face Buford with a glare and hissed, 'would you pay attention for once?'

'Why?' the larger boy smirked, flicking another piece and grinning in satisfaction when it landed in Baljeet's curly black hair. 'They're only talking about...' he paused, tuning into the speaker's voice so he could finish his sentence.

'Rape, you imbecile,' Baljeet supplied, rolling his eyes. 'They are talking about rape and how to try and prevent it. If you had any sense of decency, you would shut up and listen.'

Buford paled visibly, and to Baljeet's surprise, he closed his mouth and began to listen intently. The woman up the front, who had introduced herself as Beverly, was pointing at the large screen which was showing statistics. 'As you can see, around one in every four women are sexually assaulted or raped,' she was saying. 'This is a horrible thing, and we have to start putting steps in place to prevent it occurring.'

The assembly lasted for an hour, and when the teens were finally let go, Buford headed towards the gym. 'Its second period,' Phineas told him with a frown. 'You don't have P.E.'

'Does it look like I give a fuck?' the larger boy snarled, stalking off. Phineas glanced over at his step-brother, Ferb Fletcher, and Baljeet, confused. Buford was usually snappy, but not to this extent.

Buford didn't bother going inside the gym. He walked behind it and into his favourite hiding place, a small area enshrouded by trees with a fence on one side and the gym on the other. He sat down on the damp grass, not caring his pants were getting wet, and tried to control his breathing. He was mad. Hell, he was_ furious_. 'That goddamn, stupid fucking...' he gritted his teeth, and pulled out his phone. Over the years, Buford had found that talking to complete strangers about his problems was much easier than confiding in a friend. He wasn't a very trusting person by nature, and the only person he would really consider close to him was Baljeet, and he was pretty sure the shrimp only put up with him because he was scared of getting a beating. Buford had found a over-the-phone counselling service years ago, and it was their number he dialed now.

'Welcome to the Teen Help Line,' a smooth female voice greeted him after a few rings. 'Is this your first time calling?'

'Nah, its Buford Van Stomm,' the large boy grunted, running a hand through his short brown hair.

'It's nice to hear from you again,' the voice told him. 'I'll just connect you to your usual counselor.'

There was a click, and there was a long pause. Finally, Buford heard, 'hello, Mary speaking.'

'It's Buford.'

'Buford! It's been a while since you've called,' the boy could hear the smile in Mary's voice. 'How is everything?'

'Fine until today,' Buford muttered. He heard a rustling in the leaves of a nearby bush, and glared over at it. He was sick of the damn stray cats always following him around whenever he came to this place. 'We had an assembly today, about rape.'

'I see,' her voice turned sympathetic. 'I'm assuming this brought up bad memories?'

'Not only that,' he gritted his teeth. 'The damn bitch could only talk about her own goddamn gender. Not one fucking word was mentioned about how guys can get raped as well, not one fucking statistic put up there. I did not go through what I did just to have my situation ignored by the larger public.'

'I understand,' Mary said softly. 'Most people don't realize that males, especially young boys, are at risk too. Probably because most men won't come forward about it.'

'Don't start this again,' Buford rubbed his forehead. 'I've said it a million times, I'm not telling my mother that her ex-boyfriend raped me. She got rid of him, I never have to see him again. Everything is fine. I can't let people know about it. People in my school are ruthless, can you imagine the kind of shit I'd get if it got out?'

'Buford, I realize that you feel ashamed about what happened, but-'

Buford stopped listening. The rustling had gotten louder, and his eyes widened when a boy stepped out from behind the large bushes, instead of the cat he was expecting. Dread yanked at his stomach, making him feel like the world had dropped out from under him. There was no doubt this guy had heard everything. 'Shit,' he groaned, snapping his phone shut. Trying to put on a brave face, he sneered at the kid. 'What the fuck do you want, loser?'

Chris Fraser only smirked and sauntered over to lean against the tree directly opposite him. The blond boy was roughly the same size as Buford, but with a meaner face and a vicious attitude. He was the most feared in the entire school. It should have been Buford, really, but Buford only really picked on Baljeet, and even then, he was pretty tame about it. Chris bullied anyone who even looked at him funny and was not afraid to start throwing punches. He was the worst possible person to walk in on Buford confessing his darkest secret. 'Well, well, well,' he snickered, earning a glare. 'I never took you for a fag, Van Stomm. Took a fancy to mummy's boyfriend, did you?'

'You shut the fuck up, Fraser,' Buford counted to ten, trying to rein in his anger using the techniques he'd learned from Mary and the help line. His fists clenched in his lap. 'Or I'll punch your ugly face in.'

'Oh will you now?' Chris let out a humorless chuckle. 'Because it seems to me, Van Stomm, that I have the upper hand here. I was wondering why the fuck you were hiding behind the gym all the time, and now I finally have my answer. You so much as touch me, and your secret is out, fag.'

Buford exhaled slowly through gritted teeth. The techniques weren't working. The only reason he wasn't beating the shit out of this kid was because of the threat. For the first time in a long time, Buford felt fear. Fear that everyone would find out and judge him. His reputation would be annihilated.

'Ahh, see? I knew you'd see it my way,' Chris beamed at him, but it was sarcastic, making Buford's fear go up a notch. 'Actually, this is rather perfect. I've been watching you and that foreign nerd for months now, and I've been wanting to do something to humiliate the both of you. You're a disgrace to bullies everywhere, you know that? That kid isn't even afraid of you anymore. You actually allowed him to get close to you, and looks like you two match, cause he's a little fag as well.'

'Baljeet?' Buford frowned slightly.

'Yeah, him. He wants your ass, Van Stomm,' Chris sneered. 'Although I hardly see why.'

'Don't fuck around, Fraser,' the brunet growled. 'Shrimpy hates me.'

'I didn't say he was in love with you,' came the snorted reply. 'All I said is he's attracted to you. Or is that too much of a big word for you to understand?'

'Shut it,' Buford hissed.

'Oh, this is too perfect,' the brunet could almost see the cogs whirring in Chris's tiny brain. 'Alright, listen up, Van Stomm, I've got a mission for you, and you're going to do it, or I'll tell everyone about your little secret.'

Buford fought back a snarl. He couldn't believe this guy was actually blackmailing him. 'What kind of fucked up mission could you possibly think up?'

'You're going to seduce Baljeet Rai,' the blond leaned forward, grinning ear to ear in satisfaction. 'You're going to make him fall in love with you, and then you're going to break his pathetic little heart.'

Xoxoxo

**Short chapter, I know, but I felt like I needed to end it there. Plus, SLEEP.**

**I must go grab a slice of cake first, though. Mmm, cake.**

**Reviewers get a slice!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I was going to wait to start this chapter after I had consulted my best friend Ashlee about it (she checks over pretty much all my stories and helps me figure out what should happen and what shouldn't) but I wanted to start now. **

**Prepare for random bullshit until I can talk to her and figure out what's going to happen.**

**Update: Ashlee strikes again. From the trust course onwards, this was all her.**

**The ideas, not the actual writing.**

**WARNING: slash, boy love, guy on guy. Don't like it, don't read. Mentions of rape. **

**Disclaimer: if I actually owned anything, we all know Phineas and Ferb would be together. But alas~**

Xoxoxo

He really shouldn't have agreed.

Buford was waiting by his letterbox, watching down the road for Baljeet to meet him so they could walk to school together. They'd been doing this every week day for years, so he shouldn't have felt like something was out of place. But he did. And there was.

Chris had outlined the rules for his little 'mission', as he affectionately called it. He'd invited Buford over to his house for a 'friendly meeting' to discuss the details after school the day before. Buford was not allowed to tell anyone that he was being blackmailed. He was allowed some time to ease Baljeet into it, because coming on too strongly might give everything away. If anyone found out Chris was involved, or if Buford refused to do it, the secret would be all over the school by the next day.

At that point Chris had stopped picking dirt from underneath his ragged nails and grinned over at Buford, saying, 'and we all know you wouldn't want that, faggot.'

When Buford had asked for Chris' reasons, the boy had simply shrugged and said that he hated both of them and this would be an entertaining way to make both of them suffer.

Hesitantly, Buford had laid out some rules of his own. He was not going to be forced into having sex of any kind. Chris was disappointed, thinking that Buford fucking Baljeet and then ditching him would have been a great way to hurt both of them, but he didn't push it. Even he had some basic morals. He'd also made it clear that Chris couldn't ask for anything else. This whole mission of his was the only thing Buford would have to do to keep his secret from getting out.

In retrospect, it should have been easy. According to Chris, Baljeet was already attracted to Buford. All he had to do was charm the little brat, sneak a few kisses and then bugger off. But as he watched the dark skinned teenager walk towards him with a bright smile and his usual overflowing bag, he felt a twinge of guilt. Could he really go through with this? Lie to and manipulate his best friend, with the intentions of breaking his heart?

Buford thought of everyone at his school's reactions if they found out his secret.

Oh yes, he could do this.

'Good morning, Buford,' Baljeet stopped in front of him and tilted his head backwards so he could look his former bully in the eyes. 'Did you sleep well?'

He was about to snap something along the lines of 'yeah, sure,' when he thought of the mission. He was going to have to actually make a start in the whole seducing thing at some point. Might as well begin now. He forced a smile and shrugged. 'I slept alright, could have done with a goodnight text though,' he reached out and nudged the boy's side with his elbow. 'How come you never do that? I hear Ferb texts Phineas goodnight every night, and they sleep in the same freakin' room.'

When he saw the tiny blush appear on Baljeet's cheeks, he felt horrible. This was so wrong, he shouldn't be doing this. But he steeled himself. He had to do this. 'I did not realize you wanted me to,' Baljeet grinned up at him and returned the elbow nudge. 'But if you wish, I shall do so tonight.'

'Sounds great, shrimp-' he stopped for a moment, gritting his teeth. Calling the brat 'shrimp' would get him no where. 'I mean, sounds great, 'Jeet.'

'You seem to be in an uncharacteristically good mood, today,' Baljeet commented as they began to head towards their school. 'Any particular reason?'

At first, Buford was confused. Why the hell would the brat think he was in a good mood? He was in a shitty mood. But then again, he was in a shitty mood almost all of the time, but today he wasn't taking it out on Baljeet due to the mission. That must be why. 'I've been, ah...' he cleared his throat, glancing away as he felt a blush rise to his cheeks, embarrassed at what he was forcing himself to say. 'I've been missing our alone time together, you know? We're always surrounded by other people.'

This statement brought a large grin to Baljeet's face, and the rest of the walk was absolute torture. He'd never thought it would be so hard to do something bad to a nerd. Maybe he _was _a disgrace to bullies everywhere.

Upon arrival, Buford caught sight of Chris leaning against the school sign, puffing on a cigarette as if he hadn't a care in the world. When Chris saw him with Baljeet, a grin appeared on his face, and he winked as he took another drag. Buford scowled and looked away, hoping a teacher would see the smoke and come out to give Chris a detention.

He was actually happy when it was time for first period, because it meant he'd be away from Baljeet and the pressures of the mission. But he hadn't been able to enjoy the time apart, because he had PE second period, and both Baljeet and Chris were in his class. The only class they actually shared together. He was so busy dreading it that he hadn't even contributed to the rest of the class' efforts to make fun of the boy that everyone hated.

He'd trudged into PE with a scowl and dumped his bag on one of the benches in the locker room. He quickly stripped out of his baggy jeans and t-shirt, replacing it with the standard shirt and shorts they all had to wear. Baljeet emerged from one of the toilet stalls. The tiny teenager was too self conscious about his scrawny frame to actually change in front of other people. The Indian smiled at Buford and plopped his bag down next to his former bully's, knowing that no one would dare go through his stuff lest they face Buford's wrath. They exited the changing rooms and went into the gym.

To his dismay, their teacher had noticed the lack of comradery in the class and had decided to do a few trust exercises. Buford prayed to a deity he didn't believe in that he wouldn't get partnered with Baljeet or Chris, but luck was just not taking a shine to him lately.

'...Von Stomm with Rai,' their teacher read out from a list she'd obviously put together the night before. 'Fraser with Chang...'

Chris sauntered over to a slender asian girl who didn't look very happy to be partnered with him. As he did so, he smirked over at Buford, who didn't have to move because Baljeet was already standing next to him. The teacher clapped her hands after she'd read out the last names and tried to call order. 'Alright, listen up! We're starting with the basics here, people. I want you to take turns at blindfolding yourself, falling backwards and letting your partner catch you. I realize some of you don't have the physical strength to hold up a teaspoon,' here she looked pointedly at Baljeet. 'So if you really feel like you won't be able to do it, you can skip this exercise.'

She threw a pile of blindfolds into the middle of the room and Baljeet grabbed one before coming back with a hesitant smile. 'I do not think I will have the strength to catch you, so I shall sit out on that particular exercise,' he put the blindfold to his face and struggled to tie it up behind his head. 'But you still have to catch me.'

Buford glanced over at Chris, who was watching them intently. They locked eyes and Chris motioned towards Baljeet, and then started to tie up his partner's blindfold for her. Taking the hint, Buford took the ends of Baljeet's blindfold for him with a grunt. 'Here, let me do that.'

The smaller boy went perfectly still as Buford tied the material, and the bully was making a face as his fingers brushed up against silky black curls. This was so twisted. 'Alright,' he muttered, taking a step back. 'Done. Can you see anything?'

There was a pause, and he assumed Baljeet was testing the blindfold. 'Not a thing,' the boy eventually replied. 'I am starting to get a bit nervous.'

'Don't sweat it,' Buford let out a sigh and positioned himself behind the Indian teenager, holding his arms out so he was ready to catch as soon as the boy moved. 'I'm not going to be a dick and let you fall.'

The teacher, who had been walking amongst the class and observing, stopped in front of Baljeet with a frown. 'Hurry up, you two,' she snapped. 'Or it'll be laps for the both of you.'

'S-Sorry!' panicked, Baljeet launched himself backwards. He must have been startled by the fact that Buford wasn't standing directly behind him, instead a few steps away, and let out a fearful yelp, thinking he was going to fall.

Buford barely even winced when the boy landed against his chest, and he wrapped his arms around the small waist, holding him there for a few moments. 'Don't worry,' he muttered softly into Baljeet's ear. 'I've got you.'

He helped Baljeet get his bearings back and pulled away. The smaller boy tugged off the blindfold and turned to face him, his cheeks a bright red. 'Ahh, thanks.'

'No problem, shr- er, 'Jeet.'

Once again, he glanced over at Chris, who smirked and gave him a thumbs up. Buford realized that his day would not get any better.

'Alright, you punks!' their teacher shouted. 'Everyone outside onto the field where the Trust Course is set up! Bring your blindfolds!'

There were loud groans, mainly because it was a pretty cold day, but the class dutifully followed the woman outside and onto the field. Buford saw that it was kind of like one of those courses you see army recruits doing- under nets and over large walls, that kind of thing. He didn't really understand how it involved trust, though.

'For this exercise,' the teacher started. 'One of you will run the course blindfolded. You will have to rely on your partner's shouted instructions on where to go and what to do. This will be the ultimate test of trust,' when she paused, she noticed most of the pairs had started fighting, neither of them willing to run the course. She let out a sigh. 'I will choose who runs the course and who doesn't!'

She went through the list of names again, calling out who would run and who would shout. To Buford's immense relief, he would be the one shouting. He didn't want to go out there on the course and look like an idiot because he couldn't understand Baljeet. Chris was also a shouter. As Baljeet went over to the starting place and slipped his blindfold back on, Chris sauntered up to Buford casually. 'Nice going with the catch,' he commented, seemingly unaffected by the cool air. 'Thought the freak was going to jump out of his skin.'

Buford grunted and didn't reply. This kid was really starting to piss him off. More than he already had.

'GO!' the teacher shouted.

'Just go straight, 'Jeet!' Buford called out to his partner, who held his hands outstretched and walked slowly, but he was swerving to one side too much. 'Go right! Right! YOUR OTHER RIGHT.'

'You can not have an other right!' Baljeet snapped as he hesitantly put one foot in front of the other. 'It is called left, Buford, I would have expected you to know that since pre-school. And for the record- AH!'

Baljeet stumbled when the ground suddenly dipped, but caught himself before he fell on his face. He took a moment to get a hold of himself, his outstretched arms shaking. 'Thank you for warning me,' he muttered sarcastically.

'Sorry, 'Jeet,' Buford sighed. He continued to instruct the boy, with Chris snickering in his ear, and his temper continued to get worse and worse. Finally, after Baljeet had misinterpreted his command for what seemed like the fiftieth time, he stalked onto the course and gripped Baljeet's wrist in a vice like grip. 'For God's sake!' he snarled at the Indian, who flinched. 'Ya put your foot up here! That's all! It's not that freaking hard!'

He started to tug him along through the course. Chris was flat out laughing now, but he recovered enough to motion towards their hands. Buford glared back at him, but this was a prime opportunity. With a frustrated sigh, he slid his hand down so he could entwine their fingers together. Baljeet flinched again, but didn't pull away. 'W-What are you doing?'

'What does it look like?' Buford snarled. 'Leading you through this stupid course.'

The teacher was watching them with raised eyebrows, but didn't comment. He supposed it was because it still took some trust to allow someone to lead you, so technically it still counted. Buford felt kind of weird, a funny feeling in his chest. He was kind of... happy? Would that be the right word? Happy that someone trusted him so much that they'd allow him to lead them through a course while blindfolded? He liked that. He liked it when people depended on him. It was why he acted so tough in the first place.

He was too busy mulling this over to notice the tree stump sticking out of the ground in front on him. Stupid, really, not to see it, but he was having a hard enough day without having to pay attention to everything at once. With a startled grunt, he tripped over it. His instincts kicked in and he turned so he'd land on his back instead of his stomach. He let go of Baljeet's hand, but too late, because the Indian was yanked down on top of him, letting out a strange, high pitched squeak.

'For fucks sake,' Buford groaned, trying to get his breath back. Baljeet was trying to push off of him, but wasn't having much success. The bully glanced over at the rest of the class, but no one had noticed them, too busy running the course. Except Chris. Of course Chris had noticed. And he was grinning maliciously as he raised his fingers and tapped them against his lips. The message was clear. _Kiss him_.

His first reaction to the thought was pure disgust. There was no way he was going to kiss another guy, mission or not. But picturing his class mate's reactions to his secret was a much worse thought. Screwing up his face, he tried to put what he was about to do out of his mind. He snatched the boy's chin up just as Baljeet had steadied himself and grabbed a hold of his blindfold. Buford had dived in for the kiss, and he couldn't pull back when he saw the look of shock in Baljeet's eyes when the blindfold had been ripped off. He didn't have to pull back, however, because the Indian shoved away from him so hard he landed on his backside a few feet away.

They stared at each other in silence, both with wide eyes and heaving chests. Baljeet began to stutter out something along the lines of, 'w-what... I do not... h-how...'

Buford felt like an idiot. This kid was supposed to like him, why the hell had he pulled away? And now he'd gone and made a fool of himself and tried to kiss him, and was completely rejected. There was no way he could pass this off as something minor. Thankfully, nobody other than Chris had seen the exchange, and Buford picked himself off and patted the mud off his shorts.

'CLASS IS OVER! GET INSIDE!' the teacher yelled.

Buford offered a hand to Baljeet, but the scrawny boy ignored it, instead scrambling up on his own and shooting off towards the gym with dark red cheeks. Buford let out a groan and followed at a slower pace. Chris joined him halfway across the field and they walked towards the gym together. 'I don' get it,' Buford mumbled under his breath. 'Why'd he pull away?'

'You startled him, dumbass,' Chris rolled his eyes. 'You're his bully. How did you think he was gunna react, pulling off his blindfold to you throwing yourself at him? His first thought was probably that you were going to hit him.'

'But... I don't hit him,' Buford shrugged lightly. 'Not hard, at any rate.'

'Exactly,' the blond boy sneered at him. 'And that is why you're a disgrace.'

'Oh, shut up,' Buford closed his eyes in annoyance. He was sick of hearing that.

He was dreading what would happen when he saw Bujeet again at lunch.

Xoxoxo

**Sorry for the once again short chapter, but I thought this was a good place to stop. Hopefully this doesn't seem too rushed to you guys- an almost kiss in the second chapter (and the second day of the mission! Chris is so pushy). **

**Please review and tell me what you think! **

**Reviewers get cookies. COOKIES!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three, coming right at you!**

**Big thanks to Ashlee for helping me through this chapter. I'd be lost without you!**

**Also, I've had very little sleep and a very big day, so... The first part of this will probably be bad. Nor will it make much sense. Hmm.**

**WARNING: slash, boy love, guy on guy. Don't like it, don't read. Mentions of rape. **

**Disclaimer: if I actually owned anything, we all know Phineas and Ferb would be together. But alas~**

**Xoxoxo**

It was finally the weekend.

Buford threw his bag at the wall and collapsed on his bed in one fluid motion, as if he'd done it a thousand times. Which he had. With a groan, he buried his face into his pillow, squeezing his eyes shut against the horror and humiliation of his day. The almost kiss had been bad enough, but adding an awkward lunch time on top of that just... He didn't even want to think about it.

But think about it he did.

Evidently, Baljeet hadn't told anyone about what had (almost) happened, because the rest of the gang acted as if nothing were out of the ordinary. Isabella Garcia-Shapiro had mooned over Phineas as usual. Phineas had been completely oblivious as usual. Ferb had been silent as usual. Baljeet had been sitting quietly, stabbing his macaroni and cheese violently with his fork when Buford had sat down at their usual table. The Indian had glanced up, blushed, and hastily looked back down at his lunch again.

'Buford!' Phineas had greeted with a wide grin. 'We were just making plans for a giant water slide next holidays, you keen?'

'Ya, sure, I guess,' he'd grunted, not bothering to pull out his lunch. He hadn't been hungry, which was weird enough in itself. He was _always _hungry.

'What about you, Baljeet?'

Silence.

'Baljeet?'

Again, silence.

'BALJEET!'

'Huh?' the boy had jumped at Phineas' shout, his eyes widening. 'I am sorry, I was thinking about...' his eyes had strayed to Buford, before hastily looking away again. 'Something else.'

Surprisingly, it was Ferb who had spoken next. 'Are you feeling alright?'

'Yes,' the Indian had shifted in his chair.

'Are you sure?' Ferb had persisted. When Baljeet would not make eye contact, his eyes had locked on Buford's. 'You seem... Distracted.'

The way he'd said it made it seem like he knew.

'I have just got a lot on my mind.'

'You know, you can use contractions, Baljeet,' Isabella had raised one raven eyebrow.

'I know that,' the boy had snapped, ending the conversation. That day was the first day in years that they hadn't walked home together.

Buford felt bad. Like, really really bad. He was manipulating the closest person to him, with the intentions of hurting him. This wasn't like when they were ten and he gave the boy wedgies and noogies. This was serious, life altering hurting.

But there was no way he could back out. Imagining his classmate's faces when they found out... He wouldn't be able to handle it. He had to do this. He had to.

He didn't remember falling asleep, but he was dragged from his slumber around an hour later by his mother screaming something at him from downstairs. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair, trying to concentrate on what she was saying.

'...HERE! I'M SENDING HIM UP!'

There was a pause, and then light footsteps on the stairs. He already knew who it was. He'd been half expecting it, really. Chris had said something earlier that morning, something along the lines of, 'he'll come round, let _him _come to you.'

So it was no surprise when the hesitant knock on his door was followed by Baljeet stepping into his room. The Indian was still wearing the clothes he'd worn to school, despite the fact at some point he'd gotten ink stains on the white sleeve of his shirt. Maybe he'd been too busy to change. Maybe he hadn't gone home at all. The two boys stared at each other in silence, before Baljeet closed the door behind him and leant against it, breaking the eye contact to stare down at the floor.

'Did I wake you? I am sorry.'

'It's fine,' Buford ran another hand through his hair, suddenly wishing he'd had a few minutes to clean up. He was sure he looked horrid, what with his hair all out of place and his clothes all rumpled. His sweats and t-shirt looked disgraceful next to Baljeet's smart pair of black jeans and white dress shirt. 'What's up?'

'I...' the boy faltered, biting his lip. Chocolate brown eyes darted up to glance at him before once again staring at the floor. 'I wanted to apologize for not waiting by the school sign for us to walk home together like usual.'

'Ya don't have to say sorry, 'Jeet,' Buford crossed his arms, weirded out by how nervous the boy was acting. Sure, he'd seen Baljeet nervous before. But this was a whole new level. It made his own palms sweaty, and his own heart pound.

'Listen, about what happened second period...' the boy hesitated when Buford stiffened, but rushed on. 'Were you actually going to... I mean, were you really...?'

He trailed off into silence, looking confused and lost. Buford felt another twinge of guilt, but pushed it aside. 'Spit it out, Baljeet.'

'Were you really going to kiss me?' the boy whispered, his eyes fixed firmly on his black shoes as his cheeks flushed scarlet.

Buford watched him, fighting the urge to flee. This was not what he wanted to be doing. Lying, manipulating, hurting. That wasn't his thing. But he had to do this. Otherwise... The other option was unthinkable. Taking a breath, he grunted out, 'yeah.'

'Why?' the Indian teenager finally looked up, his brown eyes both curious and shy.

'You know why.'

He couldn't say it out loud. Couldn't find the courage. He was afraid his voice would break if he did, betray his nervousness, his lies. He avoided eye contact, staring at a spot to Baljeet's right instead. However, when the boy moved a hand to push impatiently at a strand of curly hair in his face, Buford's gaze was pulled to him. He saw the smile tugging at full lips, and felt his heart slamming painfully against his chest. This was just wrong.

'In that case...' Baljeet pushed himself away from the door, taking small steps towards Buford and sitting next to him on the bed, looking curiously into his face, which Buford knew must have been bright red. He'd never actually been in this kind of situation with someone, guy or girl, and he wasn't sure where to go from here. 'I am sorry I pushed you away. I was startled.'

Should he try for another kiss? Act like he was still offended? Make a joke? Would Chris expect him to make a move?

How the hell do people do this? he wondered. Flirting was just so damn complicated. He settled for the only thing that felt right, and gave a hesitant smile. 'It's okay.'

'You have never acted this way before,' Baljeet noted with a smile that was just a little bit cocky.

'Guess I'm good at hiding it?' it was the only thing that came to his head, and he cursed at how stupid it sounded. He really needed to think before he opened his damn mouth. Baljeet didn't seem to mind, though. The Indian laughed and shook his head.

'Very good,' he agreed. There was a tense pause, and Baljeet's gaze shifted from Buford's eyes to his lips. Oh man, is he expecting me to try to kiss him again? What am I supposed to do? I don't even know _how _to kiss-

Buford's train of thought was interrupted when Baljeet leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. He froze, every muscle in his body tensing up as panic clawed at his gut, up his throat. After a moment, Baljeet pulled back, brown eyes concerned. 'Are you okay?'

'Yeah,' he managed, forcing his tense body to loosen. He hadn't expected to react so badly to a little kiss, but Mary from the phone help line had explained that these kinds of things did happen sometimes. He was going to have to get over it, however, if he wanted to get this mission over and done with. He took a breath and prepared himself. 'You just startled me. You didn't have to pull away.'

Baljeet leaned forward again, and this time it was a little better. He didn't feel so panicky now that he was expecting it. His eyes slid closed on their own accord, and he hesitantly began to kiss back, feeling little tingles all over his body. Was that normal? He didn't know. He wasn't entirely sure if they were doing it right, either. Their mouths were opening and closing with each movement, but there was no tongue. After a moment, he decided it didn't matter. When Baljeet caught Buford's lower lip between his teeth and bit down gently, the larger boy felt a jerking sensation in his stomach, as if someone had punched him. Struggling to breathe, he pulled back, feeling heat rise in his cheeks. He hadn't expected _that_.

Baljeet was blushing, too, and there was an awkward silence before the boy laughed softly. 'If someone told me six years ago that we would do that, I do not think I would have believed them.'

Buford chuckled lightly at that, relieved that the comment had defused the tension hanging in the air. He leaned back on his palms, staring up at the ceiling to avoid eye contact. During the kiss, all the feelings of guilt and just plain _wrong-ness _had disappeared. But now they'd come rushing back, ten times worse. Despite his tough image, he could still be a romantic sap at times. And he truly and honestly believed that a kiss was sacred, something to be shared with the person you loved.

Not to be used as a form of manipulation.

It was his first kiss. The kiss itself wasn't bad, but the reason behind it completely ruined it. He'd never get another chance at it. He didn't think it was Baljeet's first kiss, considering that interesting little lip bite he'd done, but still. Kissing should be an expression of love. Right?

'So what now?' Baljeet spoke into the silence, nibbling on his thumbnail, looking nervous. He turned his head so he could look up at Buford, who glanced down at him at the sound of his voice. 'I mean, what are we?'

'What do you want us to be?' Buford muttered, avoiding answering the question himself. He didn't really want to ask the boy out, he'd much prefer Baljeet to ask. For some reason, he thought that would make it a little better, moral wise, or something, if it was Baljeet's idea.

'Well...' Baljeet hesitated, his pearly white teeth going back to chewing on his nail for a few moments. 'I thought maybe we could try... you know... being together?'

'As in dating?'

'Yes.'

'Sure,' Buford let out a breath, feeling a pricking sensation in his eyes. Oh _god_, was he going to cry? No way! Crying is for sissies. He shoved back the urge, resisting the temptation to growl in frustration. He was a bully, for crying out loud. Why couldn't he just do something horrible and _not _be wracked with guilt for once? This was just embarrassing!

Baljeet smiled, seeming not to notice his internal war. The Indian leaned forward, once again initiating a soft kiss. Neither of them felt weird that the smaller, quieter one was the one in control. They were both too busy thinking about other things. At first, the kiss intensified Buford's urge to cry. But after a moment, it seemed to drain away, and his mind went blank, his body performing the act of kissing without him even really noticing it. He'd always imagined kisses to be fireworks and sparks and butterflies, but this was just tingles and pressure, calming and soft. It felt... nice

Baljeet moved closer, one of his hands casually resting on Buford's knee. The touch jolted the larger boy out of the haze his mind was in, and he recoiled, the touch bringing back memories far too horrid for him to be able to continue. After a moment of awkward silence, Baljeet cleared his throat. 'I am sorry, we should probably go slow, as they say.'

'That'd probably be best,' the bully shrugged lightly.

'I should be getting home, my shirt is not going to wash itself,' Baljeet kissed his cheek and then stood. Buford took a moment to marvel at how much the Indian had grown. From a tiny, nervous, gangly wreck to a confident, slender, genius teenager in just six years. Time sure had flown.

'See you later, 'Jeet.'

'Goodbye, Buford.'

Around ten minutes after the boy had left, Buford's phone buzzed with an incoming text. He pulled it out of his pocket and groaned at the name that popped up. Chris Fraser.

_Saw the nerd cuming out of ur house, update?_

Buford nearly broke his phone as he tapped out the reply, frustration and anger making his hands shake.

_What are u, some kind of stalker? We kissed and wear going out. Happy?_

He lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He wondered what his friends would say if they knew what he was doing. He'd imagine Isabella would rip him to shreds. Phineas and Ferb would avoid him. Baljeet would hate him.

...Was it kind of sad they were his only friends?

His phone buzzed again. _Very happy_, Chris' text said.

Great. Just great.

He lifted a hand to his lips, applying pressure, noting how his fingers felt completely different to Baljeet's lips. He much preferred Baljeet.

His life was a total wreckand he was thinking about _that _of all things?

Wonderful. Now he was going crazy, too.

Xoxoxo

**I love writing about Buford's sappy side, and Baljeet's hesitant yet dominant side.**

**This fic will probably be short. Ten chapters, maybe? Less, possibly. I'm not sure. I'll try my best not to rush things, though.**

**Please review! I love to hear what you think.**

**Reviewers get chocolate. CHOCOLATE! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Ashlee and I make a pretty good team. She loves to plan out fics and have other people write them, and I like to write fics that other people plan xD In other words, she's planned this whole thing. **

**I've also talked her into planning my other (unfinished) stories for Big Bang Theory and Harry Potter.**

**It's going to be weird continuing my Harry Potter one. I haven't done that fandom in years. **

**Good times.**

**WARNING: slash, boy love, guy on guy. Don't like it, don't read. Mentions of rape. **

**Disclaimer: if I actually owned anything, we all know Phineas and Ferb would be together. But alas~**

Xoxoxo

Buford was actually early for his English class.

Granted, it was only because he wanted to get away from Baljeet at lunch and his annoying habit of complimenting and insulting him at the same time ('You're in Ferb's English class? You must be smarter than I thought!'). But it still felt weird when he sat down in his assigned seat, set his bag on the desk and looked around. There were a few other students in the class, and most of them were reading or writing. All of them, however, looked at Buford as if he didn't belong there.

Well, he probably didn't. Not early, at least.

It was Friday. One week since he'd agreed to date his best friend/nerd/enemy. One week since he'd agreed to do something that would ultimately break the kid's heart. English was his last class for the day, and he was relieved that all they would be doing was silent reading. That way, he could just keep to himself and not have to do anything until the bell went and he could escape.

But then, of course, he'd have to walk home with his boyfriend.

It was extremely weird for him to call Baljeet that. He was pretty sure the whole school knew they were dating, and to his surprise, he'd found out that pretty much every one had expected it. Some people had even put bets on when it would happen, and Phineas lost a fair amount of cash to Isabella. The thought that everyone expected it disturbed him. They actually thought that he, Buford Van Stomm, would fall in love with Baljeet Rai. For real love, not this fake courtship he was currently involved in.

The fact that Isabella had 'seen the chemistry from the start' made him uncomfortable. Sure, Baljeet liked him. Didn't mean he liked him back. Why was everyone so okay with them dating? Was no one surprised?

His friends' reactions had been as predicted. Isabella had squealed and demanded to know the juicy details, and then proceeded to tell the rest of the student body. Phineas had looked devastated, and he'd pulled out his wallet to hand over a wad of cash to Isabella. The redhead had stared at Buford sullenly, muttering, 'couldn't you have waited another week?'

Ferb's reaction was the one Buford had worried about the most. Aside from Baljeet, Ferb was the one he was closest to out of their little group of friends. Over the years, he and the green-haired teen had somehow formed a strong friendship. They were, after all, the ones who'd changed the most in their group. Buford had stopped bullying, lost his baby fat, grew taller, joined the football team, and began to try a little harder at school. Ferb had started to talk more, broadened out slightly, his face finally grew into his nose, and he began to take more of an interest in his social life, rather than have his entire focus solely on school (and his projects with Phin). Phineas was still the same oblivious, talkative redhead who liked to invent things in his spare time. Isabella was still confident and sassy, leader of her little troop of girls and completely in love with Phineas. Baljeet was still small, skinny and obsessed with his grades.

When Ferb had been informed by a squealing Isabella, the teen had blinked a few times, glanced between Buford and Baljeet, and then shrugged as if it were nothing big. The reaction was a huge relief, but over the past week, he'd caught the teen staring at him intently every time he was with Baljeet. He was growing more and more stressed, knowing if he slipped up and dropped his in-love-with-his-boyfriend facade for one second, Ferb would pick up on it. At one point, someone (probably Isabella) had taken a video of Buford just as Baljeet had leaned up to kiss him. When he'd seen the video, he realized that a millisecond before their lips touched, his face would screw up in disgust. Barely noticeable, but Ferb's eyes had narrowed dangerously when he watched it.

Speaking of the British teen, Ferb entered the classroom and jarred Buford from his train of thought. Glancing up at the clock on the wall, he saw it was exactly time for the lesson to start. Ferb began to walk past him to get to his seat which was right behind Buford's, but he stopped and stared at the large teen for a few seconds. Figuring he was waiting for Buford to greet him, the bully nodded slightly. 'Hey.'

There was a pause, and then Ferb raised one eyebrow slowly. He spoke, his accent still heavy even after all these years away from England. 'I know.'

With that said, Ferb passed him and proceeded to sit in his chair as if nothing had happened. Feeling dread in his gut, Buford turned in his seat and glared at his friend. He couldn't actually know about the mission, could he? 'What're you talking about?'

Ferb raised one eyebrow in what was clearly a don't-be-fucking-stupid look, just as the teacher entered the room and called for order. Grumbling, Buford reluctantly faced the front, wondering how Ferb could have possibly found out. But then, he was getting ahead of himself. Ferb could have been referring to anything. He could have been referring to Buford's closely guarded secret that he slept with a teddy bear in his arms each night. It could be anything.

Or it could be that he knew Buford was fucking around with Baljeet's heart.

Damn.

The teacher yelled at the class to shut up and start reading. Buford pulled out the assigned book and opened it up, staring blankly at the pages. He knew right then that there was no way he'd be getting any reading done.

An hour later, he was pulled from his thoughts by the teacher speaking. 'All right, that's enough,' he told them. The man glared around the room, his eyes settling on Buford, and the former bully could tell he knew Buford hadn't even read one page. 'I expect you to finish the first two chapters over the weekend and write a brief summary on them. Don't forget they're assigning parts for the play your year is doing for the annual festival on Tuesday. Have a good weekend!'

Buford stood from his seat, grumbling, the mentioning of the play momentarily distracting him from his problems. They were in a relatively small school, and so each year group got to do a different project for their annual festival they held. This year, Buford's year were performing a play.

Joy.

He hoped he'd wind up being in the technical crew, helping set up and all that. He was pretty good at acting, but he hated it. He wouldn't get a choice, though. Names would be drawn out of a hat for each part, and the rest would be divided into support crews, understudies and other such things. That way everyone would get an equal chance at each part. Last year they'd held a concert, and Phineas and Ferb had set up the whole thing, dividing their year into smaller groups and each group performed. It had been pretty good, and Buford had played his guitar.

He walked out the door, slinging his backpack over his back. Phineas, Isabella and Baljeet were waiting for him outside. Ferb appeared at his side, but before he could say anything, Phineas hurried over with a large grin. 'We decided to walk home together as a group!'

Well, at least he wouldn't have to be alone with Baljeet until they'd dropped the rest off. Buford began to agree, but Ferb cleared his throat. 'Actually, Phineas, I have an idea,' he dug into his pocket and pulled out a bunch of scrunched up notes. 'We should go to the park and get some ice-cream, just hang out. Here, take this.'

He placed the notes into Phineas' hand, who smiled brightly at the mention of ice-cream. 'I was just going to get a few things from my locker,' Ferb told him. 'Why don't you meet me at the park? You know what kind of ice-cream I like. Buford, come with me.'

Giving the larger boy no room to argue, Ferb grasped Buford's arm tightly and dragged him away, a tough job considering his bulk. 'Wait!' Baljeet called. Both boys paused, and the Indian rushed up to them. 'I'll see you at the park,' the boy smiled, leaning up to kiss Buford's cheek. He resisted the urge to flinch and stood still until Baljeet pulled away.

'Yeah, see you soon, 'Jeet.'

When he turned back to Ferb, the boy's eyebrows were raised. Scowling, Buford began to walk, muttering 'shut up,' to Ferb. The green-haired teen followed, and they stopped at his locker. He pulled a few books out and shoved them in his bag, before leaning against the lockers and staring at Buford intensely. 'What?' Buford snarled, honestly expecting to be yelled at.

Ferb just shook his head, letting out a sigh and blowing a few locks of jade hair from his eyes. 'You're my friend, Buford, and so is Baljeet. Truth be told I've been cheering with Phineas for you guys to get together, for Baljeet's sake maybe, but I never thought it would actually happen.'

There was a pause, and they glared at each other. Buford felt a pang of guilt, and it pissed him off. He _really_ didn't want more guilt right now.

'So whatever this is?' Ferb stated softly after a moment. 'It better not be to hurt Baljeet. Because no matter how much of a friend you are, Buford, you will regret it.'

His fists clenched tightly, but he worked hard to keep his face neutral. Buford let out a long breath, preparing himself to tell yet another lie. 'It's not to hurt Baljeet.'

'Well,' Ferb paused, stared into his eyes. He must have bought the lie, though, because he shrugged and allowed a small smile. 'Good then. You ready to go?'

'Sure,' Buford followed him out of the school and they walked to the park together, which was just five minutes away. Once there, they saw Phineas, Isabella and Baljeet all sitting at a picnic table together. Phineas and Baljeet both held two ice-creams.

'Buford!' Baljeet smiled at him and handed him the ice-cream in his left hand, which was orange chocolate chip. His favourite. Grunting, he sat down beside his boyfriend with a nod of thanks and immediately began to lick at it to avoid conversation. Phineas handed Ferb his ice-cream with a bright smile, flushing a bit when Ferb thanked him and sat beside Isabella.

'So Phineas,' Isabella leant over the table, smiling at her crush. Buford scowled and looked away as she purposely showed off her cleavage, disgusted at how needy she was being. 'Are you looking forward to the play?'

'Yup,' Phineas paused from licking his ice-cream to look at her, and his eyes didn't leave her face once, completely oblivious to her flirting. 'They're not separating the girls and boys parts, though. I really hope I don't end up playing the witch, or Cinderella.'

'That is right, we are doing Cinderella,' Baljeet chimed in, and Buford noticed he was avoiding looking at Isabella as well. 'I guess it will be funnier if we have a few cross dressing roles.'

'You'd look pretty good as a princess,' Ferb grinned at Phineas from over the table. The redhead's eyes widened, and then he frowned.

'Hey!' he protested at the teasing, crossing his arms and pouting, his cheeks red. Isabella giggled.

'Ferb's right,' she elbowed Ferb lightly as she said this, before looking back at Phineas. 'You'd look _amazing_. Well, more than usual.'

'Thanks, Izzy,' Phineas didn't seem to notice the flirtatious tone, and the girl was obviously holding back a sigh of exasperation. Buford snickered into his ice-cream, which was now pretty much finished. Chomping on the last bit of cone, he wiped his mouth and leaned back. He was itching to get home and continue his favourite computer game, but he'd have to wait for Baljeet to finish.

Looking over, he saw his boyfriend was still taking tiny licks at his ice-cream, which was still pretty much intact. Getting impatient, and knowing he'd have to step up his game if he wanted to get this mission over and done with, he leant over and took a huge bite out of the side of the ice-cream.

'BUFORD!' Baljeet squealed, mock pouting. 'You already had one!'

'And you're taking forever,' he countered, licking traces of ice-cream from his lips. 'So hurry it up, pipsqueak.'

'Alright, alright,' Baljeet rolled his eyes, beginning to eat his cone faster. It didn't take very long, because Buford's bite had pretty much demolished it. Once finished, the small teenager wiped his hands and mouth before standing up. 'Okay, we can go now. Thank you for the ice-cream, Phineas and Ferb! See you later!'

'Later,' Buford waved at them and started off after Baljeet, and soon they were walking side by side down the pavement, Buford with his hands in his pockets and kicking stones along. 'Think you can do my English homework for me, 'Jeet?'

'I do not know,' the boy glanced at him with a sly smile. 'Why should I? You ate almost half of my ice-cream.'

'Oh come on,' Buford nudged him with his elbow, rolling his eyes. 'You would have taken like an hour to finish it. I want to go home, man.'

'How anti-social of you,' Baljeet snickered. 'Wanting to hide away in your room instead of spending time with your friends.'

'It's a pretty good room.'

'You are impossible,' Baljeet laughed, just as they reached his house. They were standing outside his door, and Buford shrugged at the comment and stuck out his tongue. He was feeling a lot happier, today. He'd gotten so used to his anger and shame that he hardly noticed it. If he tried hard enough, he could almost forget that he was doing something horrid.

Baljeet went on his tippy toes and pressed a sloppy kiss to his cheek, laughing. 'Poking your tongue out means you want a kiss, you know that?'

'What?' Buford blinked at him. 'No it doesn't.'

'That is how I was raised to see it,' Baljeet shrugged. 'I will have a look at your English homework after I have finished mine. Have a nice night!'

He disappeared inside before Buford could reply. The large bully stood there for a moment, and without thinking, his hand came up to touch his cheek, which was still tingling. A small smile came to his face. Baljeet really was adorable when it came right down to it.

In a strictly heterosexual sense, of course.

Xoxoxo

**Just to clarify, FERB DOES NOT LIKE BUFORD.**

**I read over this and realized it kinda seems like it. Whoops. No, Ferb likes Phineas. Woo! I don't know if I'll put any actual Phinerb in here, though. Don't want to spring it on any readers that don't like that pairing.**

**Thank you guys for the reviews! I literally squealed when I saw my inbox.**

**So keep them coming! Reviewers get mints! MINTS!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the late update guys! SOMEONE (cough Ashlee cough) took forever to give me the plan for this chapter. I guess I can't complain though, she **_**is **_**doing me a huge favor for planning it out. Is that how you spell favor? I though it had a 'u', but my autocorrect says otherwise. Oh well.**

**Also it took me ages to write this. I guess I just ran out of motivation. Sorry guys.**

**Ulcers suck. Bonjela is my life. Hurts like a bitch when you put it on, but afterwards its blissful numbness. This really has nothing to do with anything.**

**WARNING: slash, boy love, guy on guy. Don't like it, don't read. Mentions of rape. **

**Disclaimer: if I actually owned anything, we all know Phineas and Ferb would be together. But alas~**

Xoxoxo

There's nothing like a kiss from someone cute.

That's what Buford's father had told him when he was really little, before the man had run off with some bottle blonde and left him and his mother alone. And really, Baljeet was the cutest person Buford knew. It wouldn't go well with his image if people knew he thought like that. He was glad there's no such thing as mind readers. Hopefully.

The kiss in question had been so... Small. Insignificant. At least, it should have been. They'd kissed on the lips, and yet he was hung up over a tiny, fleeting on-the-cheek kiss. Maybe it was how innocent it had been, so sweet and so kind. Maybe it was because he'd been in a good mood, and hadn't been expecting it. Maybe it was because Baljeet had looked so happy, so relaxed. Maybe he was starting to like the affection.

It didn't have to mean anything... Well, that's what he told himself. It was just because he'd lost his father at an early age, and his mother was working almost all the time. He never got much attention at all. Having Baljeet smile at him, hold his hand and kiss him every day was like some kind of miracle.

'Buford!'

'Huh?' he snapped out of his thoughts, glancing up from his untouched dinner plate to his mother, who frowned at him. 'Sorry, what?'

'I asked why you're not eating,' her blue eyes, so much like his, were filled with concern. 'Are you feeling alright, sweetie?'

'I'm not hungry.'

His mother let out a sigh and picked up his plate, placing it on the counter. 'You're going to regret it later on, you know,' she mumbled as she turned back to him. 'You look a bit sad. How was your day?'

Buford just grunted, getting ready to leave. His mother stopped him with a well-aimed comment. 'That Baljeet kid seems to be around more often, lately.'

'Uh,' it wasn't a question, but he felt like he was obligated to answer. He swallowed with difficulty and looked away, unable to lie to her when they had eye contact. 'We're trying to be more friendly, y'know, without all the bullying.'

His mother smiled and exclaimed at this, but Buford said nothing, downing his glass of water and standing up to go to his room. He wouldn't ever be able to tell her about him and Baljeet. He couldn't mention the mission, so if he told her, he'd have to say he liked the kid. And his mother wasn't exactly... Well, she was a homophobe. No way of putting it lightly.

Because of this, he'd convinced Baljeet (and their friends) not to say anything to her. Baljeet had been surprised, and had exclaimed that he'd thought women were more lenient towards that sort of thing.

Buford thought it'd be easier telling his mother they were just really close friends than saying, 'Oh, he's just a guy I'm dating then going to absolutely destroy so the fucking secret that your fucking ex decided to _rape _me doesn't come out. Oh? You didn't know? Maybe because I didn't fucking tell you! Contrary to popular belief, I don't enjoy making people's lives hell! Especially my _mother's_!'

He began to leave the room, but just as he reached the door, his mother spoke. 'Buford,' she said softly. 'You know I'll always be here for you, right? No matter what.'

His hands tightened into fists, his thoughts immediately going back to when he was younger. When his mother had left him alone with that... thing. Had ignored his crying, told him he'd be fine, and then just fucking _left_. She'd walked straight out the door to her stupid book club. He remembered running up to the window and watching her as she got into her car and drove away, whispering, 'please, don't go, don't leave me with him!'

He could still hear the man's dark laughter as he snapped back into reality, back into his kitchen in the here and now.

'Yeah, right,' he muttered to her statement, and walked out.

Xoxoxo

Later that night, Buford was on his bed staring moodily at his TV, not really watching it, when the phone rang. His mother was in the shower, so he rolled over and picked up the receiver from his bedside table. 'Yo?'

'Buford!' Baljeet's voice came through, the volume startling him and almost making him drop the phone.

'Hey, Buford!' another voice said, and he realized it was Phineas.

Confused, he muttered, 'what?'

'Three way calling is ingenious, isn't it?' Phineas gushed. 'You're on speaker over here, by the way. Ferb's listening in too. Say hello!'

'What are you, my mother?' Buford heard Ferb's voice mutter, and he grinned slightly.

'Okay, so it's a three-way call with four people,' he summed up, switching off his TV and laying back down on his bed. 'What do you guys want?'

'Well, we were thinking-' Buford was momentarily distracted when his mother, who'd evidently gotten out of the shower, turned on the TV downstairs. He zoned back in to hear Baljeet finishing with, 'it will be fun! Do you want to?'

'Uhm, sorry, repeat all that? I got distracted.'

Baljeet huffed, but Phineas and Ferb both chuckled. It was Ferb who ended up explaining. 'We were thinking the four of us could go to the amusement park tomorrow. Isabella has some kind of Fireside Girls meeting so she can't make it. It'd just be us guys.'

'Sounds good,' Buford stood and began to make his way downstairs. 'Just let me ask Mom.'

There was a chorus of 'okay!'

His mother was sprawled out on the couch when he approached and asked. She smiled and ruffled his hair, telling him it'd be good to get him out of the house for a while. He scowled and shoved her hand away from his hair, tromping back upstairs. 'Mom's okay with it,' he said into the phone.

'Sweet!' Phineas sounded excited. 'How about we all meet at Ferb and I's place at midday, have lunch here and then go?'

'That sounds good,' Baljeet replied. Buford grunted in agreement.

'MOM! I'M HOME FOR A VISIT!' Buford heard screeched into the phone, and he winced and held it away from his ear slightly.

'Oops, that's Candace,' Phineas chuckled, but he sounded kind of nervous. 'Better go before she skins us alive.'

'It's the pregnancy hormones,' Ferb muttered. 'See you guys tomorrow.'

'Bye!'

There was a click, and then it was just Baljeet on the other line. An awkward pause ensued, before Baljeet cleared his throat. 'You know, if you do not really want to go, you do not have to.'

Buford rolled his eyes, knowing the smaller boy wanted him to go desperately, but he knew that Buford wasn't great at handling their relationship in public. He was kind of touched at Baljeet's consideration. Part of him didn't want to go, but he hadn't been to the amusement park in ages. 'No worries, I'll go. I'll pick you up on my way to Phineas and Ferb's?'

'Okay!'

Buford could hear the smile in Baljeet's voice. 'I'll see you tomorrow, then, squirt.'

'Squirt? Really?' Baljeet faked an angry sigh. 'Will you ever stop with the demeaning nicknames?'

'Not a chance.'

Xoxoxo

The phone ringing woke him up around nine in the morning. He groped for it and pressed it to his ear, eyes still shut. 'Who the hell are you and why are you ringing me at this ungodly hour?' he snapped. He was grateful his mom was at work. If it'd been her day off, and the phone had woken her up, she'd be screaming her bloody head off.

'Buford,' Ferb's voice was as calm as ever. 'Sorry at the early hour, but Phineas and I can't make it today.'

'Why the hell not?' Buford sat up, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

'Candace wants us to go shopping with her,' Ferb sighed.

'Ferb, I really don't want to be in the car with her if she's driving,' Buford heard Phineas' voice whine in the background.

'I'll drive,' Ferb replied. 'Anyway, sorry about that Buford, although this will give you and Baljeet some alone time.'

'Great,' Buford replied in a flat voice.

'HURRY UP, YOU TWO! I WANT TO GET BREAKFAST ON THE WAY!'

'Jesus,' Buford grumbled, after rubbing at his sore ears from the screaming. 'Is that your sister? She hasn't gotten less high-strung at all, has she?'

'She has a bit,' Ferb sighed. 'But, you know, hormones.'

'Right...' Buford scratched his chin, wrinkling his nose at the stubble he found there. 'I'll see you at school, then.'

'Alright, see you later.'

Once Ferb had hung up, Buford called Baljeet to give him the news. He knew his nerd would already be up, even at this time of the morning, and hitting the books. After a few rings, there was a click and Baljeet's smooth accented voice answered. 'Hello, Baljeet speaking.'

'It's Buford,' he didn't bother pausing to make the customary greetings. 'Phineas and Ferb pulled out. You still up for this afternoon?'

'Sure,' Baljeet sounded less enthusiastic than he should, and it took a moment for Buford to realize the boy was distracted, probably solving complex equations at the same time as talking to him. 'Where should we meet up, then?'

'I can just walk to your's, and then we can walk to the park,' Buford offered.

'Okay,' there was a pause, and Buford could perfectly imagine Baljeet struggling to pull himself away from his homework. 'I will see you later?'

'Sure, bye, 'Jeet,' the bully grinned.

'Bye.'

Xoxoxo

_So whatever this is? It better not be to hurt Baljeet. Because no matter how much of a friend you are, Buford, you will regret it._

Buford pressed a hand to his temple, letting out a sigh. It was late afternoon, almost dusk, and he and Baljeet were just coming back from the House of Horrors. Ferb's warning ran repeatedly through his head, becoming louder each time Baljeet held his hand, or gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Other than the annoying little voice in his head, he was having a good time. A great time, in fact. It was almost as if they were younger, and not caught up in this stupid facade. Of course, every time Baljeet did something couple-y, it ruined the fantasy.

He couldn't help but hold back. Baljeet was always the one to initiate the contact, always the one to take things further, even if that further was just a kiss on the lips rather than the cheek. He hated it, hated doing this to his best friend. If there was a God, he was so going to hell.

Baljeet pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and hurried away, claiming he needed to go to the bathroom. Buford was left standing in the middle of the amusement park, surrounded by people, and feeling unbearably alone.

He watched all the happy couples walk past him. One boy had his arm around the girl next to him, and she was smiling as she leaned into him. Another were holding hands and laughing about something. There was even two girls who were obviously a couple, cuddling on one of the park benches. He hated them all. Well, maybe not them, but what they reminded him of. Him using Baljeet. Screwing him over. Royally fucking up his life.

When he spotted two guys flirting next to the candy floss stand, he observed them idly, not really paying attention. He wondered what it'd be like if he didn't hold back, if he threw himself into the relationship- and the mission- with as much passion as the two guys who were now making out. Maybe he shouldn't hold back. Baljeet was already aware something was wrong- he'd been asking Buford if he was okay every five minutes through out the whole day. If he didn't hold back, maybe the nerd would stop badgering him.

Or maybe he should just take Baljeet home. It was getting late anyway, and he was starting to get into a bad mood with all this musing. Unless he lightened up, the rest of the day would be shitty.

Baljeet appeared in his line of vision, weaving his way through the crowd. Buford almost expected the kid to get knocked over, but he seemed to be an expert at avoiding getting hurt. Baljeet came to a stop in front of him, and just as Buford was about to suggest them going home, the Indian held out a small stuffed animal toy with a bright red face. 'It is for you,' he said softly.

Buford's face went red as well, and he accepted the bunny without comment. It was an sickeningly sweet gesture, and his heart began to pound. He put it down to the embarrassment of being given a toy by his boyfriend in public. He guessed Baljeet hadn't actually gone to the bathroom. When he raised an eyebrow at Baljeet, the boy shrugged and said, 'you seemed so down.'

He was hit, yet again, with the fact that this kid was the sweetest person he'd ever met. For once, he initiated the contact and kissed Baljeet's forehead quickly, hoping no one from school would see them. He felt another pang of guilt. That sweetness might be destroyed when he finished the mission. What a waste.

Forcing a smile to his lips, he began to walk, letting Baljeet fall into step beside him. 'One last ride before we head home, I think,' he pointed in front of them. 'How about the ferris wheel?'

'You do not like that sort of stuff, though, do you?' Baljeet grinned up at him. 'Lets go on the roller coaster!'

Buford was stunned into silence as Baljeet grabbed his hand and began to drag him over to the relatively short line for the roller coaster. Baljeet hated these sort of rides, and yet he was willing to go on them because Buford hated the ferris wheel. The guy checking their amusement park passes raised an eyebrow at Baljeet's height, but he took one glance at Buford and didn't comment.

Once they were seated in the back of the ride, Baljeet's excited face fell, and he looked absolutely terrified. Buford rolled his eyes and handed him the bunny for comfort. 'The ride hasn't even started yet,' he tsked softly. 'And this ride is a cake walk compared to the one Phineas and Ferb built years ago,' he paused and sighed at the terror on his boyfriend's face. 'I have a spare hand if you want something to hold onto.'

Baljeet looked at him, surprised. Buford rarely said anything romantic. A tiny smile tugged at his lips, but it soon faded once the ride started and their coaster climbed to the top. Baljeet bit his lower lip hard, and his hands, one gripping the bunny and one gripping Buford's, tightened. They stopped at the top, and the coaster teetered, seemingly mocking them. Buford reached over and pressed another kiss to Baljeet's forehead, figuring if he could help the mission and comfort Baljeet at the same time, well, two birds one stone. 'Thank you,' he muttered, a bit embarrassed. 'For the bunny, I mean.'

Baljeet opened his mouth to reply, but the coaster suddenly dropped and all that came out was one very high-pitched scream.

Xoxoxo

Baljeet wouldn't shut up, but Buford didn't really mind. They were walking home, only a street away from Baljeet's place, and holding hands. He wasn't really sure what the kid was talking about, but the accent always calmed him down and made him smile. It was kind of endearing, really.

In a heterosexual sense.

Buford shook his head to get those fond feelings for Baljeet out of his mind. He was determined that they were only friendly, like how you'd feel towards a best friend who'd just bought you something you'd always wanted. Nothing more than that. And feeling... friendly towards his boyfriend would only make the mission harder. Better to stamp those feelings out now.

Once at the door, Baljeet handed him back the bunny and wordlessly reached one hand up to yank Buford's head down. Their lips collided in a heated kiss, and for once Buford let it last more than a few seconds (over a last week or so, he'd been keeping it limited to chaste pecks). After a few moments, Baljeet pulled away. His deep brown eyes were wide, and his chest was moving with each erratic breath. And just like that, he turned and went into his house without even saying goodbye.

Well, the kiss might have counted as a goodbye.

The walk to his house was a complete daze. He couldn't help but remember each moment of the kiss, and his hand found it's way to his lips without him even realizing. His mother greeted him when he wandered inside, asking about his day and raising an eyebrow at the bunny. Buford, still not really thinking clearly, gave her a smile and replied, 'good.'

He climbed the stairs, throwing a goodnight over his shoulder. His mother called up the stairs, 'are you hungry? Anything?' but she got no reply. An affectionate smile came to her face and she shook her head.

Buford collapsed on his bed and thought back to his date with Baljeet, because that's what it really was. He couldn't kid himself. Ferb had probably set them up on purpose, and he chuckled at the idiocy of it all. The bunny was still in his hand, and he stroked it's furry head idly. A moment later and he was snoring.

Xoxoxo

**I am SO SO SO SO SO SORRY for how late this chapter was! A whole week late!**

**Hopefully the longer than usual length will make up for it?**

**I've made up my mind, by the way. I'm going to have little bits of Phinerb scattered around in here. If I can convince Ashlee to include it in her plans. Hope you guys won't mind!**

**Please review! Reviews get chewing gum! CHEWING GUM!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Welcome back, guys! We're starting to get a little further along in the plot now. Next thing you know, this will be finished. Sad, isn't it?**

**Hope you guys like this chapter. It's A Series of Unfortunate Coincidences. **

**Updates should hopefully come faster, I'm almost into the school holidays so I'll have plenty of time. But don't hold me to that. I'm very lazy.**

**Also, I'm really glad someone reviewed in about the OC. I'm happy you like that he's important but non-evasive, that's what I was going for! I'm always worried people will hate the OC purely because its an OC. Hate him because he's an ass! xD**

**WARNING: slash, boy love, guy on guy. Don't like it, don't read. Mentions of rape. **

**Disclaimer: if I actually owned anything, we all know Phineas and Ferb would be together. But alas~**

Xoxoxo

Maybe the reason Ferb didn't talk much was because he couldn't actually hear anything that was said to him.

It was just a theory, of course, but Buford wasn't even standing too close to the guy and he could hear the music coming from his headphones perfectly. It was almost as if he were the one listening to it. It seemed unlikely that Ferb could listen to music at that volume and not damage his hearing.

Buford shook his head and sighed, staring down at his feet as he plodded along obediently after Ferb, Baljeet and Phineas towards their school. It was a bright Tuesday morning, and he felt anything but cheerful. He and Ferb were a few steps behind the other two, and he could hear them (over the tinny noise of Ferb's headphones) discussing Baljeet and Buford's "date" in great detail.

At one point, Phineas glanced back at Buford with a huge grin and asked, 'so, did you like the bunny rabbit?'

Buford glared at him silently, refusing to answer. After a few awkward beats, Phineas scoffed, rolled his eyes and quickened his pace. Baljeet followed. Ferb, who had turned his music off as they were approaching the school gates, glanced over at him. Buford grumbled under his breath before snarling, 'remind me why you like him again?'

Ferb's eyes widened just the slightest, and this huge reaction caused Buford great satisfaction. He'd been noticing the green haired teen's behavior towards his so called brother lately, and he'd had his theories confirmed by the reaction. Ferb's eyes stayed wide in question, and Buford let out a somewhat snide snicker. 'Oh please, I know you. To me, it's obvious.'

Ferb's eyes narrowed dangerously, and without warning he punched Buford in the shoulder and stormed off. Rubbing his dead arm (that kid packed a punch), Buford glanced around as he got inside the school, but Ferb was already lost in the crowd and he couldn't see anyone he knew. He frowned. A few moments later he felt weight crash down on his back, and two arms encircled his throat, crushing his windpipe. Raw panic fought it's way to the surface, but it was calmed somewhat when he heard, 'Hey Buford! What'cha doin'?'

'Being choked to death,' he managed to grunt out, and the weight and arms disappeared. Isabella appeared in front of him, grinning widely.

'Sorry, was I a bit rough? You'd think the toughest guy in school would be able to handle a little girl like me.'

'Little?' Buford scoffed. 'You weigh a tonne!'

'Hey!' Isabella punched him in the same spot Ferb had, and his arm went dead again. The girl huffed at him and flipped her raven hair over her shoulder. 'You're such a bully, Buford. Anyway, have you seen Phineas?'

'Yeah, he ran off with my boyfriend.' Buford was becoming used to calling Baljeet that, and deep down, he was starting to not mind it as much. 'Hey, what do I have first period?' he had a habit of forgetting his timetable, but luckily for him, he shared at least one class with at least one of his friends, so by asking around he could always figure it out.

'We don't have first period, remember?' Isabella raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow. 'We have an assembly.' At Buford's blank look she sighed and shook her head. 'For the play?'

'Oh!' the memory clicked into his mind, and he abruptly remembered they were being assigned their parts that day, with rehearsals commencing after school that same day. Isabella linked her arm through his, as she did with all the guys in their little group (so it wasn't like it meant anything, and even if it did, she really wasn't his type), and they began to walk together to the hall. He hoped he'd get a maintenance job. Building the set sounded pretty decent, he'd had enough experience helping Phineas and Ferb build their inventions. But even as he thought this, somewhere inside he knew he was in trouble. Call it karma or whatever, but after all the horrible shit he'd done, he knew there was no way he'd be getting was he wanted.

They were already late, but Baljeet and Phineas had saved them seats in the front, so they awkwardly made their way over as other students snickered and the teachers stared disapprovingly. Buford collapsed into the seat next to Baljeet gratefully, who gave him one of his 'where-have-you-been?' looks. This happened almost every time they had assemblies, and it reminded him of before the whole mission thing. It was almost comforting.

'Quiet down!' his English teacher, Mr Davidson, was standing on the stage, wearing his customary glare. After a brief introduction, he launched right into calling out each part for the play. 'As you know, its Cinderella,' the man paused and glanced down at the list held in his hand. His lips twitched slightly when he read them, but an instant later and he was frowning again.

'For Prince Charming we have...' here he looked up and the tiny smirk was back. 'Baljeet Rai.'

There were a few giggles and catcalls, and Buford patted his boyfriend's hand, snickering quietly. Baljeet's eyes were wide, and he was muttering under his breath, 'Oh goodness, how will I fit this in with my studies?'

'For Cinderella,' Mr Davidson coughed into his hand. 'Ah, Buford Van Stomm.'

The entire hall erupted into laughter, and even Baljeet was giggling at him. Buford frowned, staring at the piece of paper that Mr Davidson held. He was Cinderella and Baljeet was Prince Charming. That was a little.. Odd. But maybe it was just a coincidence.

'For the Fairy Godmother we have Isabella Garcia-Shapiro,' the man was now just reading the names off, no longer pausing to let the students react. 'For the Evil Stepmother we have Chris Fraser. The Ugly Stepsisters are Phineas and Ferb Flynn-Fletcher...'

Buford stopped listening. It was no longer a simple coincidence. He turned in his seat, ignoring the talking and laughing around him, scanning the crowd in the hall for a certain face. He saw Chris near the back, and their eyes met. The blond boy winked lazily, smirking at Buford's scowl. Chris glanced down, breaking eye contact, and a moment later Buford felt a buzzing in his pocket. He read Chris' text silently. _Meet u in E corridor after._

Once all the roles had been called out, they were let go for second period. Buford, Phineas, and Ferb all walked out together, as they had the same class. The brothers were talking quietly about the rehearsals coming up. 'I, uhm,' Buford's mind was blank. 'I can't go with you to class. I have to...'

'Go to the loo?' Ferb asked with a raised brow.

'That's the one!' Buford clicked his fingers, nodded to the brothers and hurried off, towards E corridor. Once there, he waited impatiently against the wall beside a classroom door, scanning the deserted corridor. He saw a flash of blond and immediately snarled loudly, 'What the hell are you playing at, Fraser?'

Chris shoved his hands in his jean pockets, giving a half-assed shrug. He wasn't even looking at Buford, which only served to piss the brunet off more. 'Just having some fun.'

'Did you rig it?' he asked harshly, watching as Chris pulled a packet of cigarettes from his pocket, pulled one out and lit it. Chris blew smoke in his face, and Buford sneered, waving it away.

'Fuck yeah, I did,' Chris snickered. 'You should have seen your face.'

'What the hell is with Phineas and Ferb as the step-sisters?' Buford continued to wave smoke away from his face as the other bully took more drags.

'Oh come on, it'll be hilarious. You have to admit, those two have some chemistry,' here Buford bit back a snicker at how close Chris was coming to the truth. 'I've seen them in plays before. They were pretty good together. Plus, them in drag?'

'You do realize you'll be in drag too?' he asked, and Chris shrugged in response. 'And I hope you also realize that this whole thing is a bit _too _coincidental.'

'What the fuck are the teachers gonna do about it?' the bully held up in hands in exasperation. The cigarette, almost finished, dangled from his fingers. 'It's not like they can prove it was me.'

After this comment, he took his final drag of smoke, flicked the butt over his shoulder and walked off down the corridor. 'Smell you later, Van Stomm!'

Buford walked over to the butt, crushing it under his heel in case it lit something on fire, yelling after Chris, 'you stole that off a TV show!'

He got no reply. He was alone.

'Well, fuck,' he ran a hand through his short brown hair. 'Guess I'm gonna have to be a princess.'

Xoxoxo

The head of the drama department, Ms Crane, was taking the rehearsals after school. When Buford walked in, she personally took him aside and apologized to him for having to be a part of the play. She knew he'd hate it. 'It's fine,' Buford shrugged. 'Not like I can do anything about it.'

'You could refuse to wear a dress,' the teacher mused, seemingly unaware that she should be encouraging Buford to take part, rather than giving him ways out.

'Nah, its okay,' Buford knew Chris wouldn't like that, and well, he was the boss unfortunately. It was weird how practically every one of his decisions depended on whether Chris would approve. What was weirder was Buford was actually used to it.

He glanced around, but Chris wasn't there. Well, at least things would be easier with him not around to piss Buford off. Baljeet, Phineas, Ferb and Isabella were all present, and they waved him over. Three of them were wearing huge grins, but Ferb looked completely unimpressed, his arms crossed over his chest. 'You alright there, Fletcher?' Buford nudged the teen's side with his elbow teasingly. Seeing someone else unhappy about the recent events cheered him up considerably.

'This is ridiculous,' Ferb muttered, pushing Buford away. Ms Crane wandered over, clapping her hands to get the rest of the room's attention. Aside from their little group, there were only around five other people in the room. There would be more, of course, but this particular rehearsal was just for the main characters.

'Alright, lets get you all sized up for costumes before we start!' Ms Crane told them, and they all got in a line in front of her while she help up a tape measure. Buford was in the middle, in front of Ferb and behind some girl he didn't know.

'You alright?' Ferb asked after a moment. Buford didn't reply, watching as Ms Crane measured Baljeet's waist. He was so small, so delicate. How would he survive without Buford's protection? 'You know, they can change your role if you make a big enough fuss,' Ferb tried again.

Buford laughed, but it held no mirth. 'No they can't, Ferb,' he looked away from Baljeet and up to the ceiling. 'They can't change anything.'

Buford had been considerably embarrassed when he'd had his measurements taken. It wasn't that he was overweight or anything, but he was by far the largest out of anyone there. It was a little disconcerting.

After all the measurements had been taken, Ms Crane handed everyone their scripts and announced that they would be practicing the scene where Prince Charming puts the slipper on Cinderella. Chris was supposed to be part of that scene, but seeing as he wasn't there, Isabella volunteered to step in for him, seeing as she wasn't in that scene.

'What're we gonna use as a slipper?' Buford grunted, hoping like hell they wouldn't make him wear actual high heels.

'We can just use one of your shoes for now,' Ms Crane had answered. Buford was glad his mother had recently de-odorized his shoes and washed his socks. 'Alright, everyone in their place? Okay, action!'

'Is there no other lady present in this home?' Baljeet asked nervously to Phineas, Ferb and Isabella, who were all glaring at him, following the instructions of their scripts.

'Of course not,' Isabella gave an evil laugh, fanning her face with one hand. 'No one of worth.'

She actually sounded convincing as an evil step-mother. Go figure. 'W-What about this charming young lady over here?' the Prince's attendant stuttered (played by some kid no one knew), pointing at Buford. After a moments pause, Phineas burst out laughing, holding his sides.

'Ch-Ch-Charming!' he gasped, and soon the rest of the class joined in, leaving Buford to stand in his place, arms over his chest, looking unimpressed.

'Alright, alright,' Ms Crane tried half-heartedly to bring back order, a smile tugging at her lips. 'Yes, very funny. Can we try again please? Action!'

'What about t-this charming young lady over here?' the boy repeated. Phineas' lips twitched, but he managed not to start laughing again.

Buford glanced at his script and rolled his eyes at his lines. 'You've got to be kidding me,' he muttered under his breath, before raising his voice. 'I am but a lowly servant in this home!'

'Listen to her,' Phineas cackled, sounding suitably evil.

'Yes, listen!' Ferb was a lot less enthusiastic. 'She is dirt, she is nothing.'

'Every young woman shall try on the slipper!' Baljeet announced. Now that they were starting to get the rhythm of the scene, he sounded more confident. He strode over to where Buford was, forced him to sit down on the nearest chair and kneeled in front of him.

'Like she'll be the one who fits the slipper,' Phineas snorted derisively.

Baljeet yanked off Buford's sneaker, before trying to slide it back on slowly. The material tickled the soles of Buford's feet, and he leg jerked automatically. Baljeet dodged the flying foot, but he glared up at his boyfriend accusingly. 'You tried to kick me!'

'You tickled me!'

'That is no reason to kick someone!'

'Alright, alright, calm down you two,' Ms Crane grinned. Buford and Baljeet were glaring silently at each other. 'I can see this is a lost cause. I wanted to ask all of you if you have any parents or anyone who could help out with the play.'

'What about Candace and Jeremy?' Phineas suggested. 'They'd love to help out, and Candace would be great at making the costumes.'

'No!' Ferb stood up, staring wide eyed at his step-brother. 'She's pregnant! And moody! And willing to kill us if we make even one little mistake!'

'Oh, she'll be fine,' Phineas rolled his eyes.

'Perfect!' The teacher made a note of it on a piece of paper. 'If you could ask them sometime before the next rehearsals, that'd be great.'

'Phineas!' Ferb groaned, sinking back into his seat and covering his face with his hands. 'You've doomed us all.'

Buford joined in with the rest of the class as they snickered at Ferb's obvious pain. Without thinking, he reached over and took Baljeet's hand. The smaller boy glanced over at him, and his lips twitched into a smile.

Maybe this play thing wouldn't be so bad.

Xoxoxo

**Finally finished the chapter. Phew. **

**Sorry this is so late. My motivation to write is at an all time low right now. **

**I hope you enjoyed this! **

**Please review! Reviewers get shortbread! SHORTBREAD!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Welcome back, guys!**

**Hope you guys like this chapter.**

**Just as a warning, I've started getting into the habit of using these things, "", to show speech, instead of my normal ''. So I'll be using the "" from now on.**

**WARNING: slash, boy love, guy on guy. Don't like it, don't read. Mentions of rape. **

**Disclaimer: if I actually owned anything, we all know Phineas and Ferb would be together. But alas~**

Xoxoxo

A month had passed and their whole year was getting into the swing of things for the play. Rehearsals were almost every day and people were going crazy building the sets and sewing the costumes. Buford found himself at a dance rehearsal, awkwardly trying to perform the waltz with Baljeet while Ms Crane shouted tips to the group.

Phineas seemed to be having a fun time dancing with some guy. At least Phineas was shorter than him, so it kind of worked that he was the female in the dance. But for Buford and Ferb, who were also the females of the dance, they were both taller than their partners and it threw the whole thing off. Ferb was glancing over at his brother every now and again, and it caught Buford's attention, who had begun to grin stupidly at the green-haired teen's obvious jealousy. Okay, so maybe it wasn't obvious to most people. But Buford had know him for years and could tell by the way those green eyes frowned ever so slightly with each glance. Distracted, the bully accidentally stepped on Baljeet's foot and the Indian let out a yelp of pain.

Ms Crane turned off the music and sighed at all of them. "You're all too stiff! You must get into the groove of dancing if we want to get this right! Everyone pick a partner and just sway to the music!"

Ferb immediately disentangled himself from the boy he'd been dancing with and went over to Phineas, who accepted his offer of being partners with a smile. Ms Crane had put on a very slow song, and Buford snickered loudly as Phineas put his arms around his brother's neck. Ferb gave him the two-fingered salute before twirling away with a laughing Phineas. Neither of them were capable of doing something as simple as swaying, so they began to perform an intricate dance that didn't go with the slow music at all.

Buford and Baljeet didn't bother moving. They already knew that they were still going to be partners, and they began dancing again, this time just slow dancing together. After a few moments, Buford let out a long sigh and let go of his partner. "That's it, I'm sick of being the female. We're switching."

"Fine," the boy rolled his eyes and obligingly changed positions, this time wrapping his arms around Buford's neck. "But you will have to be female when we actually perform the play, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," the bully grunted. The gentle music and slow swaying relaxed them, and Baljeet gave a yawn and rested his head against his boyfriend's chest.

Candace, who had began helping Ms Crane with the play immediately after Phineas asked her, was taking photos of the various couples. She snapped one of Buford and Baljeet, and the Indian grinned. "I will have to ask her for a copy of that," he murmured, watching the pregnant woman wander off to another couple. Her belly wasn't that large, but still enough for people to notice. "I wonder if she and her boyfriend are going to get married."

"Mmm," Buford wasn't listening. His eyes were trained on Chris, who was leaning against the wall close to them, looking bored. His role as the evil step-mother meant that he didn't have to dance, so he and the other's with non-dancing roles, like Isabella, were just watching. He saw the brunet looking at him and he gave a little wave. It was odd how he always did friendly things like waving and winking, when they both knew he hated Buford's guts.

Abruptly, he felt a hand pull his head down and Baljeet kissed him quickly before smiling up at him. Baffled, he was about to ask what the random kiss was all about, but the Indian began to speak. "I always tell people I am in like with you, but I think that has changed," here Buford began to worry this was some sort of breakup speech. "I know there are things you can not tell me and reasons why you sometimes act like you do not want to touch me, so I know you will not feel the same way just yet, but I think I might lo-"

"Hey Buford!

Baljeet flushed bright red at being interrupted, and he looked sulkily over at Phineas, who was grinning at them. "Keep the PDA to a minimum, yeah?"

"Phineas, shut up," Buford growled at him. Once the redhead had glanced away, grinning to himself, the bully looked back down at Baljeet. "Sorry, you were saying?"

"It does not matter," the smaller boy would not meet his eyes. Buford let out a groan but didn't push it. He had a feeling he knew what Baljeet had been trying to say, and he definitely wasn't ready for that yet.

Any yet, despite the fact he wasn't ready, he felt himself grow warm at the thought. His heart was thumping madly, and had been since Baljeet had kissed him. He was having a hard time fighting the smile that was determined to come to the surface, and for once, he wasn't agonizing over how much of a horrible person he was. He was... actually happy.

He tried to make sense out of the reaction, and he could feel himself getting closer to the truth. Just before he could, however, he happened to glance up and lock eyes with Chris. The teen was smirking and Buford automatically knew that the blond had overheard the entire thing and had known what Baljeet was about to say as well. His stomach dropped and he felt sick, horrified.

This was exactly what Chris had wanted.

Neither of them broke the eye contact, and the blond boy mouthed one word. '_Soon_.'

The following moments were a blur, but he remembered shoving Baljeet away (gently, however. Some part of him could no longer stomach hurting the boy), grabbing his school bag and fleeing from the room. He heard his name being called but didn't stop. He ran all the way back to his house, using the pain of such strenuous exercise to help distract him. Having played on the football team for a few years, he had done longer runs than this, but it had been some time since he'd bothered, now that he wasn't on the team. Funnily enough, he'd quit because Chris had joined and he hadn't liked the blond from the start.

When he burst into the house, he found his mother in the kitchen. He could smell the sweet scent of cookies and she turned to him, flour covering her hands. "Buford? Sweetie?"

He ignored her, turning and running up the stairs and into his room, slamming the door behind him. He threw himself on his bed and just lay there, fighting back the tears threatening to surface. His phone buzzed and he checked it automatically, noting it was from Ferb. _What's wrong? I know something's up. You can talk to me, or Phineas. Or anyone._

He was tempted to throw the phone across the room, but he didn't want to break it. Instead, he just placed it on his bedside table and buried his face in his pillow. A few minutes went by in which he was able to calm himself down considerably, forcing himself to think about trivial things like the latest video game he'd played, when he heard the door open.

His mother sat on the bed beside him and stroked his hair gently. She smelt of cookies and flour and baking and home. He felt at home. She continued to stroke his hair as she started to speak. "Are you okay?"

He didn't reply. After a moment she tried again. "Obviously you're upset and I can't force it out of you, but there's some cookies downstairs if you want them and I'm always here if you need me..."

Here Buford zoned out. It was the same old shit she said to him everytime he was upset, and he was pretty sure it was the same old shit any parent said to their child. Her voice jolted him out of his thoughts and he began to listen again. "Honey, I want you to know that you're my son. My baby. You'll always be my baby, and no matter what, nothing will change that. Nothing will change how much I love you. As long as you're happy, I'm happy."

Her words seemed out of the blue, but he could tell she was talking about Baljeet. So she suspected something was going on there, something more than just the close friends story he'd given her. It was surprising, really, that she seemed so ready to accept their relationship (it was fake, yes, but she didn't know that) when he'd always pegged her for being a homophobe. Maybe she didn't like it in other people, but when it was her son who was in the gay relationship...

His mother kissed his head, and he could feel her lips brushing against his hair. "I'll be downstairs if you need me," she told him softly before standing and leaving the room.

With a sigh, he reached out and grabbed the bunny soft toy Baljeet had given him at the fair not too long ago. He studied it's face, it's stupid grin, and he didn't even try to ignore or deny the growing truth. Maybe, just maybe, he was starting to like Baljeet back. At the start of the relationship he'd been hesitant and resentful towards the other boy, but over time he had come to mean something more to the bully. Buford did, after all, feel excited whenever the other came near. He'd get grumpy if they were apart too long. And he'd actually come to look forward to chaste, stolen kisses whenever they thought no one else was looking.

Buford had had crushes before. He'd had one on Candace back when he was ten. He knew what it felt like to want another person, to want to be with them, to want to see them happy, to see them smile. He felt like that around Baljeet. It was bittersweet, however, because the happiness he felt around the smaller boy was always tinged with guilt and fear. Guilt at the fact this had all started on lies, and fear that someday Baljeet would find out and decide he never wanted to see Buford again. He didn't know if he could handle that.

But how could he honestly hope for their relationship to continue when it was so goddamn fucked up? Chris would never let it happen. If he got wind of Buford's developing feelings, he'd come up with some way to keep both Buford and Baljeet unhappy. And if he didn't get wind, he'd eventually tell Buford it was time to put the plan into action and force him to break up with Baljeet in the worst way possible in order to break the boy's heart.

A bolt of pain and guilt hit him, and he curled into himself, the soft toy pressed to his chest. He didn't think he'd be able to go through with it anymore. The thought of people finding out his secret was terrifying, but the thought of hurting Baljeet was heartbreaking. But even if he refused, their relationship had been doomed from the start. There was no way it'd end up a happy ending for either of them.

He let out a long, slow sigh, trying not to work himself back up and get overly upset again. So maybe he liked Baljeet. Maybe he really, really liked him. There was nothing he could do about it right now, and he could try and figure out what to do later.

What was the phrase Baljeet had used before? In like? So Buford was in like with Baljeet.

And maybe that was his greatest downfall.

Xoxoxo

It was early evening, just as the stars were starting to emerge and the sun was just about to vanish below the horizon. There was a cold breeze moving through Danville, enough to make most people shut themselves up in their homes with their warm heaters and fires. Not Buford. He had climbed onto the roof of his house, wrapped himself up in a blanket and was just staring up the the sky, trying to decide what to do.

Baljeet meant a lot to him. He'd thought so back before this whole thing had happened, too, but now it was so much more than that. It was like the question of his happiness was balanced on whether or not Baljeet was happy. More than anything, he wanted to make Baljeet happy. But he had no idea how to do that. With Chris meddling in their relationship, it seemed impossible. Maybe he could keep Baljeet happy for a few more weeks at the most, but then it'd be show time and he'd have to end the mission.

Thoughts were whirling through his head too fast for him to even register them, and he cradled his head in his hands, confused beyond belief. He felt so alone. He desperately wanted to spill everything to someone. Someone who'd understand, someone who could help him. He didn't think he'd be able to tell them everything. The subject of his being raped was still tender to even think about and he didn't think he'd be able to admit that he was using Baljeet. But maybe he could tell them enough. Enough to calm his worries and enable him to think clearly so he could figure out what to do.

It was time to bring someone else into the little secret that was the mission.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled through his contacts, looking at each of the names and wondering if they'd be able to help him. It was pointless. He already knew who he was going to tell. He was just procrastinating, delaying the inevitable. Sighing, he stopped on Ferb's name and just stared at the screen, wondering if this was a good idea. He had no doubt the green-haired teen had the power to help him. The question was- would he? They were friends, yes, and closer than they appeared, but Ferb had been the one to threaten Buford when he thought something was up. Telling him would be admitting to the fact he'd lied when he said he wasn't going to hurt Baljeet. And he had no idea what Ferb would do, how he would react.

Still, it was time to take a chance.

_Ferb._

He sent the simple message before pulling his knees up to his chest, resting his head on them. He could still back out if he wanted to, but if he was being completely honest with himself, he didn't want to back out. He was sick and tired of this charade, and sick and tired of letting himself be ruled by fear. Fear of his secret being found out. Fear of how people would react to it. Fear of how people would react to the fact he'd entered into a relationship with Baljeet, with the intention of breaking his heart. Fear of Chris.

Fear of himself.

His phone buzzed in his hand and it made him jump. He lifted his head and opened the message, not sure what to expect. He almost smiled when he saw it was a calm _Buford. _in response. Ferb never was the type to show emotions, even through text.

He took a breath, typing out his message but not sending it. His thumb hovered over the send button, and it seemed if he pressed it, he'd be taking a step down a road that he couldn't see the end of. He knew he wouldn't be able to control the repercussions of going down that road. But it was the only one that had the possibility of Baljeet being happy at the end of it. Even if it had the very high chance of Buford's life becoming more of a hell than it already was at the end of it.

Feeling like he was about to plunge into an ice cold river, he pressed the send button and sealed his fate.

_We need to talk._

Xoxoxo

**Dun dun dun!**

**Sorry for how short this is, guys. I tried to lengthen it with Buford's musings, but even that seemed pretty short. I'm also sorry for how long this took. I've started to really get into Avatar: Legend of Aang fanfiction, and I've been a bit distracted. **

**But, since I'm home sick and unable to get back to sleep, I thought I'd work on this **

**before Ashlee kills me. She's been nagging at me to finish this chapter for a while now.**

**I hope you enjoyed! We're starting to get into the conclusion, now. This story will probably finish in a few chapters. Thank God. I've loved writing it, but it's also been so stressful!**

**Thanks for all your reviews! Please continue to send them in!**

**Review! Reviewers get energy drink! ENERGY DRINK!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Welcome back, guys! Ashlee **_**finally **_**got around to planning this chapter. Many of it was born from our discussions in Classics because we got very very bored. AND WHO CAN SPOT THE GREEK MYTHOLOGY REFERENCE. Hellz yeah, Classics. **

**(Also, Ashlee seemed determined to include Eurgh town. She named it that when she suggested the town and I replied "Eurgh." And thus it was born.)**

**We're starting to get into the swing of things now. I particularly like this chapter because of the Ferb moments. I love Ferb! **

**WARNING: slash, boy love, guy on guy. Don't like it, don't read. Mentions of rape. **

**Disclaimer: if I actually owned anything, we all know Phineas and Ferb would be together. But alas~**

Xoxoxo

The roaring in his ears helped distract Buford from the distinct feeling of oppression and powerlessness. When he was on his motorbike, he felt free. He felt like all he had to do was just stay on and everything would work out fine. He knew, deep down, that life just didn't work that way. But it was a temporary relief and he'd take it any day. It was around ten at night and the streets of Danville were empty, silent except for the deep rumbling of his bike as he finally parked it up in front of the Flynn-Fletcher household.

Taking off his helmet, Buford glanced up at the second story windows, half expecting to see one of the brothers up there, waving at him. The windows were dark, however, and Buford let out a puff of air, watching it mist in the cool night air. He was wondering whether he should knock. It had only been around ten minutes since he'd sent the text that had sealed his fate, and Ferb had simply replied, _Come over, bring your bike. We'll go for a ride._

He knew he'd be able to rely on Ferb to listen to his problems. The main thing was, Buford was still unsure how much he was going to reveal. Part of him still recoiled at telling _anything_, but it was simply too much to bear on his own. Even the tiniest part of his worries shared would take a weight off his shoulders. Recently, he'd begun to feel like Atlas.

He caught a glimpse of movement at the front door and saw Ferb exiting. He shouted a hello and Ferb waved in response. There was muffled yelling from inside the house and Ferb turned back to shout, "Mum said I'm fine to go out! Leave off, Candace!"

An amused smirk twisted Buford's lips as Ferb made his way to the garage and walked his own motorbike out. The two of them had, years ago, expressed a desire to get their own bikes. No one else in the group had wanted to, so Buford and Ferb worked together to come up with the money to get them. Those experiences had been what caused them to become closer friends. Ferb ended up tinkling with both bikes and making them better. They hadn't been able to drive them until they got their licences, but once they had, they'd gone out on rides together constantly. Eventually they settled down and only went out occasionally, but it was still something they shared, something that connected them.

Ferb stopped his bike beside Buford's and hopped on. There was a loud screech from inside and both boys ducked as a spoon was thrown out the window towards them. It clattered harmlessly to the ground behind them and Ferb's mouth thinned. "Let's go before she starts throwing knives. Damn hormones."

They both walked the bikes to the road and Ferb glanced over at Buford before they pulled their helmets on. "Been a while since we've been on these babies together," he said, staring pointedly at the other boy.

"I have a boyfriend," Buford countered, giving a small grin. "You have no idea how much of your time they eat up."

Ferb only laughed before pulling on his helmet and riding off. Buford followed suit. He wasn't paying much attention to where they were going, he knew Ferb had a destination in mind and wasn't too worried about what that was. He was just relieved to be able to act like things were normal again. The last time they'd ridden together had been before all of this mission business, and he allowed himself to pretend he was back in that moment, without all this worry.

But then, a niggling thought reminded him, he wouldn't have been able to realize his feelings for Baljeet. That had to count for something, didn't it? He wasn't sure if it made up for the rest of the shit he'd had to put up with, but at least there was something good about all this.

Pulling himself from his thoughts, Buford finally managed to pay attention to the road they were travelling on. He recognized it immediately. They were already on their way out of Danville and were heading towards the small beach town Eurgh, where Ferb and Buford always used to go when they rode their bikes together. The wind was whistling inside his helmet, and it helped calm him, although it start to make his head hurt after a while.

They both pulled up outside an old diner, the only building within miles still open at that time of night. Ferb was the first to climb off and he entered the diner, Buford following close behind. The interior was brightly lit, with a counter on one side and tables on the other. There were bar stools so people could sit at the counter, but the boys headed over to a table in the corner. A few moments later and they were approached by a familiar old man.

Knobblies, as the man liked to be called, had a fat stomach with a handlebar mustache that moved when he talked. He had a pair of sunglasses on despite the time of day, an oddity that Buford had often joked about. He was sure they were glued to the man's face. "Ferb! Buford! Long time no see!" Knobblies greeted, pulling out a little notebook and a pen. "What would you boys like?"

"Two coffees?" Ferb suggested, and Buford nodded his agreement. "Two coffees, thanks, Knobblies."

The man nodded and gave them a huge grin, writing the rather short order down in his notebook before heading off towards the kitchen. Knobblies was a weird name, but both boys knew the man preferred the wacky nickname to his actual name. Apparently his mother had been intent on having a girl and even when he came out a boy, she still insisted on calling him Kelsey. Apparently he'd demanded to be called by his nickname since he was a young boy.

The coffees were brought out in short order and Knobblies retreated back behind the counter, leaving Ferb and Buford to themselves. The boys sipped at their steaming drinks for a few moments before the smaller of the two finally put down his cup and fixed the other with a penetrating stare. "So, care to share?"

Buford gulped, knowing the time had come. He put his own cup down and shifted uncomfortably, trying his best to avoid eye contact. "Well, I did say we had to talk."

"So let me guess," Ferb started casually, stirring his coffee without much thought. "This is about your fake relationship with Baljeet?"

"Yeah," Buford let out a sigh and leaned back. A second later and Ferb's words clicked in his head and his eyes widened, body going tense. "Wait... what!"

"Oh come off it, Buford," the other teen rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I'm not that stupid."

The bully sat there awkwardly for a few moments, not quite knowing what to say. One last surge of resistance hit him and he found himself telling yet another lie. "Well, actually, it's not about me. I have this friend..."

"A friend, huh?" Ferb's lips twitched.

"Yeah, and they need help."

"Your '_friend_' needs help?" the boy repeated, the twitch forming an amused grin.

"See, he has this secret that no one, not even me, is supposed to know about. And it's kinda huge," Buford rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"How do you know about this if you don't even know about it?" Ferb raised one green eyebrow, clearly confused.

"I, uh, found their diary," Buford lied, sweat forming on his brow. Had he really come all this way to just lie through his teeth?

"Where'd you find it?"

"It was in their man purse," he muttered, and he could almost feel himself digging a deeper hole.

"Oh?" a smirk formed on the green-haired teen's lips. "_You_ have a man purse, you know."

"_It's a satchel!_" the bully hissed, his cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

Ferb rolled his eyes, the smirk dropping in place of a glare. "Cut the crap, Buford. What the fuck is going on?"

Buford let out a sigh and rested his chin on his hand, staring down at the table, coffee forgotten. It was now or never. He had to tell. "Okay, look, something happened that I can't tell you about because it's just too personal," he started. Ferb only nodded. The bully knew the smaller teen would understand and respect that. His crush on Phineas was, after all, too personal for anyone to know about. The only reason Buford knew is because he'd figured it out himself. "And I was talking about what happened to someone over the phone, and this asshole overheard me. This thing that happened... I just... I can't let anyone else find out about it. I can't imagine how people would react. I can't face that. I just can't."

Ferb nodded once, gesturing for Buford to continue.

"And this asshole knew I didn't want anyone to find out, so now he's blackmailing me with it."

"What's he getting you to do?" the other teen asked, his tone neutral.

"He told me he'd spill everything unless I got Baljeet to fall in love with me, and when that happens, I'm supposed to break his heart," Buford covered his eyes.

"What the hell did Baljeet do to this 'asshole'?"

Buford realised that he'd never even bothered to ask. Why did Chris hate the boy so much? As far as he knew, the two of them had never spoken. Had something happened that Buford was unaware of? He made a mental note to ask Chris about it eventually. Maybe he'd get some answers. Maybe those answers could help him in some way. "I don't know, Ferb," the bully said eventually. "But he wants to hurt Baljeet, and he's using the brat's feelings for me to do so."

Ferb nodded, his face impassive. He seemed to be taking everything on in a non-judgmental way, but then again, Ferb had always been hard to read. He could be preparing an angry rant for all Buford knew.

"I agreed to go through with it," guilt stabbed him once again. "I thought I had no choice. I honestly just hate myself so much. And then when we went on dates I'd both enjoy them and hate them at the same time. I just got so confused and fucking sick of everything. And then today..."

He hesitated. Ferb raised one eyebrow. "Go on."

"When we were dancing. Do you remember Phineas interrupting us, telling us to tone down on the PDA?" Buford asked.

"Vaguely, yes."

"Well, I'm pretty sure Baljeet was just about to declare his love for me," Buford scrunched up his nose at that. As much as he liked the other kid, declarations of love would always make him cringe. They were just so girly. "He was literally in the middle of saying it when Phineas interrupted. Chris overheard, and he's going to make me finish the mission soon. I just don't know what to do."

"Chris, huh?" Ferb leaned back. "I had an inkling he was involved with you somehow, but not to this extent. Makes sense, he's the biggest asshole in the school."

Buford shook his head at Ferb. That boy seemed to know everything. Maybe it was because he was British. Or smart. Personally, Buford thought it was just because of the British thing.

"I'm not sure how he wants me to do it yet," he began to imagine ways he'd have to finish the mission and a feeling of powerlessness crept up on him. He felt tears stinging his eyes and he tried to force them back, but was unable to hide a sniff. "But I'm pretty sure he's going to get me to do it harshly. And publicly."

Ferb reached over the table and patted Buford's hand awkwardly. "You can cry."

"I know," the touch and the words both made it so much harder for him to hold back, and his whole body tensed as he fought away the tears.

"You really like him, don't you?" Ferb's smile held no mirth or happiness. It was more bitter than anything else.

"I can't do it, Ferb," Buford closed his eyes, struggling with himself. "I can't. I don't know what to do."

Ferb stayed quiet for a while, his face contemplative as he waited for Buford to get a hold of himself. After a few moments the bully had calmed enough that he was no longer in danger of crying, and Ferb spoke. "What do you think you can do?"

There was a snort of derision, and Buford forced a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I dunno, Ferb. I think I'm screwed."

They both went quiet, mulling over the situation in their minds. Buford was watching Ferb intently, hoping to see sparks of an idea forming, anything that might mean the teen had thought up a way to help him. But there was nothing, and for once Buford started to think that Ferb couldn't help him.

Or maybe he just wouldn't. It was, after all, a very delicate and tricky situation. Plus, he knew that the green-haired teen stayed out of any kind of romantic problems. They were too personal. And besides, just listening with an open mind had helped considerably. Maybe that would be enough.

Buford would have to come up with a way to work everything out on his own.

Buford was awoken rather rudely by his mother opening his door non too gently and thrusting the phone into his hand. He closed his eyes against the light searing his eyeballs from his mother opening his curtains and pressed the device to his ear. "Hello?" he asked groggily, still exhausted from his late night out with Ferb. The two of them had spent a while just sitting in silence at the diner, and then they'd gone for an extremely long ride. Thus, Buford had gotten home late and hadn't gotten much sleep. He was in no mood for school.

"Buford!" Baljeet's smooth and still rather high voice greeted him. "What happened yesterday? I was worried."

"Uhh," the bully pushed himself into a sitting position, hoping it would help wake him up fully so he could participate in the conversation properly. "Something came up, sorry. I ended up just hanging with Ferb for a while."

"Oh," there was a long pause before the other boy cleared his throat. "Okay, that is fine. I was just wondering. I will see you at your mailbox in twenty minutes?"

"Sure, 'Jeet," Buford grumbled. They said their goodbyes and hung up. Despite his grogginess, he still managed to notice his increased heartbeat. It was the first time they'd spoken since he'd come to the conclusion that he had feelings for the foreign brat. It still felt weird for him.

He dragged himself down stairs and into the kitchen. His mother promptly shoved a warm coffee mug filled with the delicious smelling liquid into his hand, along with some energy pills she kept around whenever she had late nights. "Take those and then get in the shower," she winked at him before bustling off into her room. He popped the pills into his mouth and then took a swallow of his coffee, sighing in satisfaction once he was done. His mother truly made the best coffee.

It didn't take him long to down the rest of the mug, and he put it on the counter before shuffling up the stairs to his bathroom, feeling a bit more awake. He awoke completely when he stepped into the shower before it had warmed properly and ended up covered in goosebumps. His mother shouted goodbye up to him from downstairs, and he knew she was off to work. He returned to farewell, trying not to get soap in his eyes. Eventually, he made it through the shower and got himself properly dressed.

Once downstairs again, he found his bag sitting on the table, along with his lunch and a can of energy drink. Smiling at his mother's thoughtfulness, he put both in his bag before spying a little note hidden under his lunch bag. _Have a good day, sweetie, _it read. _I'll see you when you finish school! I love you!_

The note brought a twitch of a smile to his face and he carefully folded it and slipped it into his pocket before pulling his bag on. He stretched as he left the house, making sure to lock up behind him before he strode over to his mailbox to wait for his boyfriend. Sure enough, less than a minute later, he caught sight of the boy hurrying towards him with his usual overflowing bag.

"Good morning," he said breathlessly, looking puffed from the awkward fast-walk/slow-run he'd done.

"Mornin', geek," Buford smirked, hooking his hand under the shoulder strap of the boy's bag and lifting it away. "Here, let me carry that."

"Thank you," Baljeet beamed, causing the bully's cheeks to go a bit red. He should have been used to their interactions by now, but there was a new twist to the relationship. Buford actually liked Baljeet back now. This new revelation made the larger boy feel like he was back at square one. He wasn't entirely sure how to act around his boyfriend now.

Sometime during their walk to school, however, he loosened up and relaxed a little. This was just Baljeet, after all. They'd been friends for years. If he couldn't act at least semi-normally around him, then something was seriously wrong.

"Are you excited for the play?" Baljeet asked cheerfully, carrying a few of his books pressed to his chest. Buford was walking beside him, carrying both his bag (which probably contained two exercise books, his lunch, and a couple of pens) and the runt's bag (which weighed more than a large dog and he had no idea how the smaller boy had managed to carry it for so long).

"Oh sure," he replied in a flat voice. "Two more days until I get to make a complete fool of myself on stage in front of the whole school and everyone's parents. I can't wait."

"What are you talking about?" the other boy frowned up at him. "You are an excellent performer. You should have no trouble."

"It's not my acting skills I'm worried about," Buford sighed. "It's the fact I have to wear a dress. A freakin' dress. Have you seen the costume Candace made for me? It's this horrid pink colour and it's all frilly. I'll look like a total dork."

"Well," a hint of a smirk twisted Baljeet's lips. "At least you will not be alone. Phineas and Ferb also have to wear dresses. As does Chris Fraser. You know him, do you not? He is the blond boy. I think he was on your football team."

He felt like someone had punched him in the stomach, hearing that name leave Baljeet's lips. Ice cold dread made its way through his veins, leaving him shaken and unhappy. "I-I know him," he forced out, trying to sound normal. "But we haven't spoken much."

He paused, and then remembered his mental note from last night to find out why Chris hated Baljeet so much. Maybe the smaller boy knew why, and could tell him. He took a breath and asked, "have you ever spoken to him?"

"Once," the Indian winced and glanced away. "He threw an insult at me and said it wrong. I corrected him and he got very angry. It was stupid of me, really, to wind him up."

Buford blinked a couple of times. "He didn't... hurt you or anything, did he?"

"No, no," the other boy suddenly smiled up at him. "He knows you are my bully."

"Not really a bully anymore, am I, 'Jeet?" the boy grunted. So that was why Chris hated Baljeet. What a completely pathetic and psychotic reason. But really, had he expected anything different?

Baljeet laughed. "No, you are not."

Not really in the mood to talk anymore, Buford started to reply in grunts until the other boy took the hint and they fell into a comfortable silence. The rest of the way to school was almost relaxing until Buford caught sight of Chris standing next to the school sign, puffing on a cigarette like he did every morning before class.

Their eyes made contact for a brief second and, slowly, a smirk formed on the blond's face.

Oh boy. This was going to be a rough day.

Xoxoxo

**Short chapter. BUT THE PLAY IS NEXT! And I assure you, it is going to be awesome. I have been looking forward to writing it this whole time. I expect it will be EXTREMELY long. Seriously. There is a lot I have to cram in there. And I don't want to cut it into two chapters so it has to be one!**

**Thanks for all your reviews! Please continue to send them in!**

**Review! Reviewers get cream cheese icing! CREAM CHEESE ICING!**


	9. Chapter 9

**IMPORTANT NOTE: this story is becoming a trilogy! That's right! Ashlee and I talked it over and decided that Keeping Secrets would only be the first part. Next will be Revealing Secrets and then it will be Justifying Secrets. Revealing Secrets will have the aftermath of Keeping Secrets, but it will be told in mostly Ferb's point of view. I don't want to give too much away so I'll just leave it at that, but Ashlee and I are excited for it!**

**Oh my gosh. Finally. Okay, so I apologize for the huge wait- Ashlee hadn't finished the plan. It took a lot of coaxing, bullying and begging on my part but I finally got her to hand it over. And here it is!**

**The long awaited play! It gets a bit silly in some parts, but I should point out now that Chris is behind a lot of the shenanigans that happen. **

**WARNING: slash, boy love, guy on guy. Don't like it, don't read. Mentions of rape. **

**Disclaimer: if I actually owned anything, we all know Phineas and Ferb would be together. But alas~**

Xoxoxo

He was late.

After first period they usually had five minutes to get to their next class. He'd quickly gone to the bathroom in those five minutes and then ended up going on a detour because he thought he saw one of the buildings on fire, but it turned out to just be a load of smoke coming from one of the chemistry classrooms. By the time he stopped staring and remembered he was supposed to be in class, he was already ten minutes late and the room was on the other side of the school. He hurried through the deserted corridors, not really worrying all that much. His teacher was used to Buford's antics by now. She probably wouldn't even bother to tell him off.

Despite the horrid drama in his life, he was in a rather good mood. Just before he and Baljeet had gone their separate ways before class, the smaller boy had leaned up for their usual goodbye kiss (which was really just the slightest brushing of lips and Buford had previously only put up with it to keep up appearances) and he'd decided to just take advantage of the way things were. He knew eventually something bad was going to happen and end up separating them, so when Baljeet leaned up he wrapped one strong arm around the boy's waist and dragged him closer, giving him a much more intimate kiss than they'd ever had. It had been their first kiss since Buford realized his feelings, and now he could enjoy it freely without being confused as to _why _he was enjoying it.

When he'd pulled away, everyone except Ferb had looked surprised, and the green-haired teen had just chuckled quietly and shook his head.

His good mood came crashing down when the reality of the situation hit him. For gods sake, he was going to have to break up with Baljeet as some point. Maybe he should be trying to get the kid to end up disliking him so by the time it happened, he wouldn't be upset at all. Instead, he'd just gone and encouraged him.

He took a breath and let it out. Could he really go through with it?

Laughter ripped through his thoughts, forcing him to a stop. He already knew who it was before he even turned, suppressing a groan. Why couldn't this guy just leave him alone? Sure enough, Chris was standing right behind him with a smug look.

"So," the blond said casually. He leant up against the wall of the corridor and fixed Buford with an evil smirk. "Short shit likes you, huh? Oh, whoops, loves you. I forgot. How disgustingly cute. It was so perfect that he told you while you were dancing. Tell me, did you feel butterflies, Buford? Was having someone fall in love with you all that its choked up to be?"

"Just because no one will ever like a freak like you," Buford snarled in response, hands curling into fists.

"Shut it, faggot," Chris' voice turned cold. "At least I didn't let my mother's boyfriend take me up the ass."

Buford flinched and looked away, his blood turning icy. He was so fucking sick of this asshole continuously bringing that up. He just wanted it to go away. Chris laughed at his reaction and pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. Once he'd put one in his mouth and lit it, he leaned forward and blew the smoke into Buford's face, laughing again when the other tried his best not to start coughing.

"As you've probably already guessed, the mission is pretty much drawing to a close," Chris took another drag of his smoke. "You've accomplished what I told you to. The foreign brat love you, its time to finish this."

"Why do you hate him?" Buford had heard Baljeet's side of the story, but he wanted to know why such a tiny little thing had driven Chris to this extent.

"Because he's small and weak... and because I can?" Chris dropped his half-finished cigarette and stomped on it, crushing it into the tiled floor of the corridor.

"That's a stupid excuse."

To the blond's credit, he did manage to slam Buford up against the wall and pin him there, his elbow digging into the brunet's throat, before he even realized what was going on. Chris' face was close to his own, sneering in distaste. "You are going to _break _him, Buford, like it or not! You will rip out his heart, you will do it publicly, and if you don't fucking doing it I'll make your life a living hell, got it?"

"You already have," Buford muttered. Every instinct he had was screaming at him to just lunge for Chris, but he held back.

"Oh my god," the blond pulled his face away just a bit, but kept his elbow where it was. "You like him back, don't you? You actually developed feelings for the scu-"

His self control snapped. With a yell, Buford shoved the other away from him and followed it up with a clenched fist swinging towards Chris' jaw. The blond dodged and tried to retaliate, but Buford just rammed into him, slamming him into the wall and suddenly their positions were reversed. The brunet had his hand around Chris' throat, seriously considering tightening his grip. Not to kill him, god no, but just to inflict some pain onto the kid who was the reason he was so fucked up right now. He realized that his fingers had been tightening without conscious thought and he let go, disgusted at himself. He wasn't like this, not anymore.

Chris sank to the floor, one hand going up to cover his throat. "You'll regret this, Van Stomm. I'll make fucking sure of it!"

Buford's only response was a glare before he turned and continued making his way towards his class, which he was now seriously late for. He could hear Chris cursing behind him.

Buford threw open the door of the dressing room, storming inside. The last two days had been horrid. Chris wouldn't stop badgering him and everytime he saw Baljeet he'd feel a fresh wave of guilt and confusion. He claimed he really liked Baljeet, and yet he was planning on hurting him. It made his head ache just thinking about it.

"Buford! Hey!" Phineas called from where he was sitting, waving his arm. Ferb was sitting beside him, watching Buford with a raised brow.

"What's wrong?" the green-haired teen asked lightly.

"Nothing's wrong," the brunet grunted angrily. "What the hell makes you think something's wrong?"

"You're looking pissed off."

"I'M ALWAYS PISSED OFF!"

"No, you're not," Ferb frowned.

"Uh, hello?" Buford sank down into the seat next to his friend just as Phineas got up to go grab the wig he'd be wearing for the play. "Where have you been living the past forever?"

"Well, first I was in England and now I live with Phineas," Ferb answered seriously, despite the fact it was a rhetorical question.

"Oh, your darling Phineas," Buford spat.

A look of hurt crossed Ferb's face but the bully was too nervous and upset to care. They were about to go on stage and perform the play. He was most likely supposed to complete the mission during it, and he was completely on edge about it.

Ferb grabbed his arm, wearing a half serious, half pissed off face. "What the fuck is wrong, man!"

Buford didn't answer, but it didn't matter because Ferb got distracted anyway. The door, which had closed after Buford had stormed in, opened again. Chris stalked in and stared around at them all. An evil smirk was playing at his lips. "Alright, who's going to help me get dressed?"

One of his nerds rushed over and stood by his side. Chris nodded at him before surveying the room once again. He grinned at Buford and then winked at Baljeet (who was on the other side of the room, helping Phineas with his wig, and Buford hadn't even realized he was there). After this, he pulled his nerd off to the make up station to get ready.

It was the first time Chris had ever been so into the play. Hell, he hardly ever showed up for auditions, but now he looked pumped and excited. It was the only confirmation Buford needed. He was going to have to finish the mission during the play.

Could he really go through with it?

He saw the exact moment that Ferb realized why Chris was so pumped as well. He turned to Buford with a worried expression, opening his mouth, but Phineas, wearing his blonde wig, came and sat back down beside him before he had the chance to speak. Just at that moment, their teacher (who had been putting stage make up on Isabella) stood up and clapped her hands. "Alright, we have an hour before we go on! I want everyone into their costumes, now! I'm going to run this show like the army!"

"She doesn't mean like an actual army, right, Ferb?" Phineas asked.

"It's okay, Phin," Ferb replied, the worried look never leaving his face. "She probably means if we don't hurry up she'll give us detention, not the whole 'I'll turn all of your friends against you so they beat you up with soap and pillow cases in the middle of the night' army thing."

Phineas didn't look very convinced, but he nodded and walked away to find his costume. Ferb turned to Buford, opening his mouth, but yet again he was cut off, this time by the teacher yelling at them. "Get your costumes on now, boys!"

Ferb attempted to talk to Buford four times as they were getting ready, but each time he failed. Almost an hour later the two were standing in the wings of the stage, waiting for the curtain to rise up. Phineas approached and stood on Buford's other side. They were all wearing the dresses that Candace had painstakingly made for them.

Buford began to freak out, looking around for Baljeet. He couldn't see the Indian anywhere. What if Chris did something to him while Buford wasn't there to protect him? His breathing began to quicken, and Ferb elbowed him in the side. "Calm down!"

"It'll be okay!" Phineas reassured, obviously thinking Buford was worried about the play. The redhead, so innocent, took Buford's hand and squeezed it. "Everything will be fine."

And suddenly they could hear a huge crowd clapping and the voice of the narrator echoed out over the hall they were all in. "Once upon a time there was a mermaid named Ariel-" there was a pause, some rustling sounds and muted cursing. "Who switched my scripts around?"

Buford sighed. He knew it was going to be a long night.

The curtain rose to reveal a large white canvas, and somewhere in the back of the hall there was a projector shining a slideshow onto the canvas. The first picture was one of Buford as a baby, but it had been edited (surprisingly well) to make him look like a girl.

"Once upon a time there was a young girl named Ella. Well, Cinderella, because she was constantly dirty, but that comes later. Anyway, she was a beautiful young girl who lived with her parents and had a peaceful, happy life. Until her mother died and her father married and evil stepmother with two ugly daughters who were intent on making Cinderella's life a misery..."

As the narrator spoke, the pictures on screen changed. All of them were edited photos of Buford when he was younger. Ferb was snickering quietly beside him, and the bully threw him a glare.

One of the Chris' buddies, who Buford seriously disliked, popped up in front of them. "Aww, Buford!" he cooed. "You were so cute when you were little!"

"Would you shut _up_?" the brunet hissed, shoving the boy by the shoulders roughly. It was a horrible move because the boy stumbled backwards and landed on his arse- right on the stage in front of the audience.

"Oops," Buford grinned.

There was an awkward paused before the narrator stopped with his lines and said, "Evan! Get off the stage!"

The boy, Evan, scrambled up and ran into the wings, face bright red. He avoided Buford's eye, who was smirking. Ferb looked amused as well, but Phineas was frowning at them both.

The stage went dark and several helpers rushed on, pulling the white canvas away. Buford knew that behind it was a staircase and a balcony, and he also knew that this was his cue. He was shoved roughly onto the stage and he turned around, seeing Isabella waving innocently at him. He pulled the finger at her in response just as the lights came back on.

He turned bright red, realizing the whole crowd was watching him, being the only one on stage. Trying to ignore the fact he was wearing a blonde curly wig and a brown, ragged dress, he cleared his throat and did his best to recite his lines, knowing the tiny microphone clipped to his dress would pick up his words. "Oh, woe is me, my-"

"Buford!" a not so quiet voice hissed from the front row of the audience. "Psst, Buford!"

"MOM!" the bully exclaimed in embarrassment, watching as his mother waved excitedly and pointed her video camera at him.

He abruptly remembered where he was and began to pace the stage, trying to remember his lines. "My step mother is so mean to me, and my step sisters are too!"

His foot caught on the ends of his dress and he stumbled, almost falling on his face. He muttered a few choice swear words, and he could hear Ferb laughing from off the stage. He sent a death glare into the wings, wishing he could just leave. The teacher, obviously panicking, sent Phineas and Ferb out onto the stage.

"Oh, look who it is," Phineas sneered. He seemed like he was getting really into it. With his red dress and blonde wig, he actually looked the part too. "My lazy little step-sister who couldn't even be bothered to wash my clothes!"

"I've been so busy with the dishes, sister-" Buford started.

"Shut up!" Phineas cut him off. It was Ferb's line next and they both looked at him, who looked completely unimpressed in his green dress and black wig.

"You're such a bitch, Cinderella," he muttered, putting no effort into it at all.

Buford rolled his eyes. Phineas pointed an accusing finger at the brunet. "Oh my gosh! You aren't doing your chores! MOTHER!"

Chris appeared at the top of the balcony, dressed in a poofy pink dress and a brown wig. He waved his arms around dramatically. "My darling daughter! You called for me?"

"Fall off, bitch," Buford muttered. Ferb cracked up laughing beside him. Their microphones had been temporarily turned off to allow room for Chris' entrance, so they weren't worried about their voices being carried all over the hall.

Chris slowly made his way down the stairs that lead to the balcony, talking all the while. "How dare you not do your chores? We took you in when your father died, we gave you a home, the clothes on your back and put food in your mouth!"

Once he'd reached the bottom he took his place between Phineas and Ferb. "I expect you to do all the washing within the hour!" he then put his arms around the brothers. "Come, dear daughters! Let us go down to the market!"

The look on Ferb's face clearly told Buford what he thought of Chris touching him. The green-haired teen elbowed the blond in the stomach before leaving the stage. Chris cursed under his breath. "Uhm," Phineas took Chris' arm. "I'm sure she's just angry at Cinderella, mother!"

He pulled Chris off the stage. Buford made a mental note to high-five Ferb at some point. "Well, I guess I better get started," he said out loud before hurrying off the stage himself.

The lights dimmed and helpers rushed onto the stage in order to set up the next scene. Buford caught sight of the narrator as he shuffled through some papers, obviously trying to find his lines. Isabella was helping him, all dressed in her fairy godmother costume. Their teacher was drinking something that looked suspiciously like alcohol.

Baljeet was waiting in the wings and Buford felt his breath catch at the sight of him. The teen was dressed in figure hugging slacks, a fake sword strapped to his hip. He wore a billowy shirt and a cap with a feather sticking out of it on his head. He looked like a prince.

Buford leaned down and pressed a kiss to his cheek quickly, muttering, "break a leg."

The Indian smiled before hurrying onto the stage. Ferb approached and Buford high fived him before they both turned to watch Baljeet's scene.

"Meanwhile, in the palace..." the narrator intoned.

The lights came back on to show Baljeet sitting on a chair. The boy sighed dramatically and wriggled around. "I am bored and lonely! I must find myself a beautiful dame who I shall sweep off her yonder feet!"

Buford snorted at how dramatic Baljeet was being. Ferb was grinning as he watched. Phineas joined them a moment later, whispering, "wow, he's really good at this!"

The grand duke, played by Django (the boy who'd originally played him had gone on holiday), walked onto the stage from the wings on the other side. He was fiddling with one of the props his character had as he walked, a glass eye thing that Candace had insisted on incorporating into the play after seeing it on the Disney movie version of Cinderella.

Django's fingers slipped and the glass fell, shattering on the ground. There was a moment of awkward silence before he walked over to Baljeet, who was standing right next to the wings. Buford narrowed his eyes, staring into the semi-darkness of the opposite wing. "Is that... Chris? What's he doing?"

He could see the other bully on his hands and knees, still in his costume, getting closer and closer to where Baljeet was standing. No one was taking any notice of him, and he passed into a part of the wings where there was no light and suddenly Buford couldn't see him anymore. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Dear prince!" Django exclaimed. "We should hold a wonderful ball and invite all the beautiful ladies of the land! Then we shall find your one true love!"

"You are right!" Baljeet agreed, jumping up from his seat. "I shall find my one true love!"

He pulled out his sword dramatically. Buford covered his mouth, trying to not burst out laughing. So that's what Chris had been doing. Impaled on the end of the sword was a cucumber, which slid off when Baljeet drew the plastic prop and waved it around. It was flung right into the audience and landed on a person's lap, who just so happened to be Jeremy Johnson. Candace was sitting beside him and they both stared incredulously at the vegetable.

Baljeet and Django sprinted off the stage. Buford was holding his sides with laughter. For once, Chris had done something right. That had been absolutely hilarious. The lights on the stage went out once again as the scene changed.

"So the prince organized a ball, because fuck logic, true love can obviously be found in one night-" the narrator started. Buford turned to look at him just as Adyson smacked him around the head.

The brunet chuckled and nodded to Baljeet, who had just hurried past. It was too hectic to try and stop for a chat, but the Indian did give him a huge smile before disappearing again.

"And so we return to Cinderella..."

Buford hurried back out onto the stage, barely managing to keep himself from tripping just as the lights came back on. He picked up a broom that was leaning against a chair and began to sweep. Not too long after that there was a loud knocking noise and Buford opened the fake door that had been set up during the black out. There was a messenger on the other side, and they just stared at each other for a few moments.

Buford slammed the door in the guy's face, hissing into his microphone, "what are my lines again?"

Phineas, who was closest to Buford in the wings, called out his lines as quietly as he could. Ferb was grinning behind his brother, obviously finding the whole situation rather amusing. Nodding in thanks to Phineas, Buford re-opened the door to a bewildered messenger. "Hello there! How may I help thee?"

"This isn't Shakespeare, Van Stomm!" a kid called from off stage.

"Well it is now!" Buford called back.

"_Shut up and do your lines!_" the teacher hissed at them.

The messenger handed Buford a letter and ran back into the wings. Buford opened the letter and read aloud, "Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of the kingdom, you are hereby invited to attend a royal ball in honor of the Prince and his quest for his true love, sincerely the Grand Duke."

The door to the balcony opened and Chris entered, his arms outstretched dramatically. Phineas and Ferb both followed him out. Ferb bumped into Chris as he did so, seemingly on accident, and the bully almost fell from the balcony. Ferb turned and hurried down the stairs to avoid Chris' glare.

"You! Heinous creature!" Ferb pointed a finger at Buford, who face-palmed. Looks like he wasn't the only one to forget his lines.

Phineas came hurrying down the stairs after them. In a blur of motion he tripped over his dress, much like Buford had done, and flew straight into Ferb, who ended up on the ground from the impact. Ferb groaned when Phineas landed on top of him and rolled them over so he was on top, preparing to get off and stand up.

"Go for it!" Buford snickered, intending his voice to be quiet. Instead it echoed throughout the entire hall, courtesy of his still on microphone. Ferb glared as Chris came down from the balcony.

"Oh, my clumsy daughters! Get up, dears, for we have received an invitation!" Chris yanked Ferb into a standing position, who in turn helped Phineas up.

The redhead took a moment to recover from his fall before leaning over and snatching the letter out of Buford's hands. "We have been invited to the prince's ball!"

"All of us?" Chris asked. Phineas nodded, sneering at Buford. "Well, my dear Cinderella. You shall be allowed to the ball if all your chores are done. Oh, and you must also prepare our dresses for us."

"Yes, step-mother," Buford sighed. They all turned and left the stage. Phineas, Ferb and Chris hurried into a special area cordoned off for costume changes. Buford stood near the stage, ready to re-enter when he heard his cue.

"So Cinderella did all of her chores and prepared her step-mother and step-sisters' dresses, but once done her ugly step-mother refused to allow her to go. And so Cinderella was forced to watch her sisters flaunt their beautiful dresses in front of her," the narrator said.

Phineas and Ferb reappeared at Buford's side, this time dressed in their ball costumes, and they entered the stage together. Phineas twirled around in his dress before admiring Ferb's, exclaiming, "we are going to be the fairest at the ball!"

"Too bad you can't go," Ferb sneered at Buford. "Look at you! How disgusting."

He gestured towards the brunet's dirty and ragged dress, which looked cheap next to the beautiful red and green dresses of the brothers'. Chris entered the stage from the balcony and descended the stairs, wearing a horrid florescent pink dress.

"We are leaving now, girls!" he looked down at Buford with an evil little smile that the brunet was well acquainted with. "I want this entire house clean by the time I get back!"

He took Phineas and Ferb by the elbows and attempted to lead them into the wings. Ferb stuck out his foot and tripped him when they were halfway before grabbing Phineas and leaving. Chris stumbled back to his feet and followed, wearing a murderous look. Buford had his head in his hands, pretending to cry like the script said, but he was really laughing uncontrollably. Once he'd gotten a hold of himself, he headed off stage, intending to thank Ferb at some point. It was obvious the green-haired teen was purposely trying to make Chris' life difficult, and Buford appreciated it.

"And so Cinderella cleaned the entire house," the narrator read as the stage went dark. "Once she was done she sat down and cried because of how horrible her life was."

Buford had already climbed back onto the stage as the narrator was talking, and he situated himself on a seat in the middle of the stage and buried his head in his hands. The stage once again lit up and he pretended to cry.

Isabella entered through the door at the top of the staircase and descended, holding out her arms dramatically. She looked amazing in her silver dress, complete with fairy wand and tiara. "Do not cry, my dear," she said in the softest voice she could manage. "I am here to make all your wishes come true!"

"Really?" Buford looked up at her and added a little sniffle for dramatic effect. "You could help me get to the ball?"

"Of course! I will sort everything out, for I am your fairy godmother!" she hit Buford over the head with her wand, much harder than necessary the bully noted, and the lights on the stage went haywire, flashing brilliant colours. The audience couldn't see what was going on very clearly as a helper rushed onto the stage, handed Isabella the props she needed and then left. The lights settled down to show Isabella holding out a gorgeous silvery blue dress and blue slippers (it had been decided that high heels were just too much for Buford, and he wouldn't be able to walk around in them). "Take these. There is a carriage waiting for you outside, my dear. But you must be back by midnight, for then your dress will turn into rags and your carriage into a pumpkin!"

"Yes, fairy godmother," Buford replied, trying to force the proper happiness into his voice. "Thank you so much!"

They both exited the stage and Buford hurried over to the cordoned off changing area, struggling to get into the silver-blue dress and slippers. At one point Adyson came over and helped him, seemingly unaffected by the sight of him in his boxers. She was completely professional, keeping a straight face throughout. She transferred Buford's microphone from the old dress to the new and then pushed him back towards the stage when she was done. "Thanks!" he whispered and she smiled and nodded in response.

He joined Phineas and Ferb in the wings and watched the stage, where the next scene was already playing. Baljeet was sitting in a chair on top of the staircase, Django beside him, looking bored. There were a bunch of people milling about on stage, dancing and talking. For a ball, it didn't look too exciting.

"Why couldn't we have done Aladdin instead?" Buford muttered to Ferb, gesturing to his dress. "At least Jasmine gets to wear pants."

"Yeah, but the only other thing she wears is a bra," the boy replied with a smirk.

"Good point."

Chris joined them, standing beside Buford and throwing him a nasty smile. "Alright, Van Stomm?"

"Fine," Buford spat. "And you, Fraser?"

"Oh, just peachy," the blond snickered before looking at Phineas and Ferb. "Alright, Flynn, Fletcher, come on."

The three of them rushed onto the stage. It said in their scripts they had to throw their hands into the air for some unknown reason (really, they shouldn't have let Candace help). Phineas and Chris did it fine, but Ferb somehow managed to throw his fist into Chris' jaw. Buford snickered loudly as the blond held his face and glared daggers at Ferb, who had turned his back on him as if nothing had happened. God, he so owed Ferb for this.

"My prince, maybe one of these girls could be your true love!" Django said to Baljeet, gesturing to Phineas and Ferb.

"Perhaps we should go talk to the prince," the green-haired teen said unenthusiastically.

"Yes, brother, we shall!" the redhead exclaimed.

"...I'm your sister," Ferb corrected, grinning when Phineas blushed and looked absolutely mortified.

They climbed the staircase and started to converse with Baljeet. Ferb was hitting on him like crazy, obviously deciding if he had to do it, he might as well do it right. Phineas was grinning and making a comment here and there.

Chris was watching them from the 'dance floor' right next to one of the makeshift doors, arms crossed over his chest. "God, I need a smoke," he muttered. Unfortunately for him, his microphone was still on and his voice carried over the hall. Everyone turned to stare at him and he was just about to stalk off when Buford threw open the makeshift door, uncaring that it almost hit Chris in the face.

Buford stormed to the center of the stage and stood with his hands on his hips. All the other dancers stopped and stared at him. "Look how beautiful that girl is!" they murmured.

Baljeet stood from his chair and pushed Phineas and Ferb out of the way, staring at Buford intently. "Her!" he said, pointing. "She is my one true love!"

As he had been speaking, he had been making erratic arm movements. Phineas began to copy him, throwing his arms in the air and mouthing the boy's lines. Buford cracked up laughing at this. Baljeet frowned at Phineas before descending the staircase and holding out his hand. "Would you care to dance?"

Buford opened his mouth to agree when he spotted a bee floating about above Baljeet's head. He stumbled backwards in fright, flushing bright red when the audience and most of the cast started laughing. The bee landed on Baljeet's arm and the boy sighed and shook his head before flicking it off. He held out his hand again and Buford took it, trying to ignore the audience as slow music began to play.

It was so different to hold Baljeet's hand, and to dance with him, when there were so many people staring straight at him. He still felt a bubbly kind of feeling in his stomach at the contact, but he also felt self-conscious, wondering if people could see how his cheeks were heating up. Their dancing was awkward at first because even with the high shoes Baljeet had been forced into wearing, there was still a huge height difference. It would have been fine if Baljeet had been the female, but unfortunately that role had to be left to Buford.

Other couples began to join in with the dance, Phineas and Ferb both finding partners, although they would send jealous glares over at Buford every now and again. "Who is that strange girl?" Ferb stage whispered to himself. At one point, when Phineas and his partner were dancing close to the brunet, he overheard Phineas singing quietly to himself. "Can you feel the love toniiiiight?"

Buford stumbled over his dress once again and heard an ominous ripping sound. Completely fed up with it by this point, he let go of Baljeet and leaned down, ripping off the bottom so the dress now came down to his shins.

"Oh my fucking god," they heard Candace say loudly. "I spent _ages _on that dress."

No one payed much attention to her at that point, because the music changed from soft and slow to upbeat and fast. It was a techno song that was quite popular amongst the teens, and Buford only had to look around to see who was responsible. Chris was no where to be seen, confirming his suspicions. Was fucking around with the play all apart of his master plan, or was it just something to amuse the bully? Buford didn't know.

They all waited for the techno to stop but it didn't. Apparently no one could turn it off. Shrugging, the students on the stage all began to dance again. The play was already screwed up anyway. Who cared if the music was weird?

There was a loud chiming sound in the background and they heard the narrator say, "but then the clock struck midnight!"

Buford toed off one of the slippers before sprinting off the stage. It was so much easier to move now that he'd shortened the dress. Once in the wings, he turned to see Baljeet pick up the slipper and hold it high above his head. "I declare here and now in front of all of you, I shall find this mystery woman who has stolen my heart!"

Rolling his eyes, Buford turned to make his way into the changing area to get back into the ragged brown dress he'd previously been wearing. He'd just pulled off the silver-blue dress and was in just his boxers when Chris approached him.

"It's time, Van Stomm."

Buford's grip on the brown dress he was holding tightened. This was the moment he'd been dreading for weeks. It was now he'd have to make his choice. His happiness, or Baljeet's happiness.

He closed his eyes and pictured Baljeet's smile. Remembered his laugh, his sweetness, his kisses. The way he'd always supported Buford no matter what, the way they'd stayed friends even when Buford bullied him.

Could he go through with it?

He knew, even before he opened his eyes and fixed Chris with a murderous glare, that the next thing he said would seal his fate forever.

"No."

"What are you talking about? No?" Chris frowned. "You know what happens if you don't do it, Buford. I'll ruin you."

"I'm not going to do it, and nothing you do will make me," Buford snarled in reply, his heart thumping. Had he made the right decision?

"You either do it during the next scene, or I'll ruin you in the next scene," Chris sneered.

"You're bluffing," the brunet said, but he could feel dread right down to his feet. Chris wasn't the type to bluff.

"Watch me."

Chris stormed out of the area just as Adyson entered. She saw Buford just standing there holding the dress and frowned. "What are you doing? They're already setting up the stage for the next scene! The one _you're _in!"

She rushed over and helped him into the dress, making sure to transfer the microphone. He knew without her help he never would have made it in time, because his limbs were suddenly heavy with too many emotions to name.

He made it just in time to get into his position on stage, standing in the back near the staircase, when the lights came back on, revealing him, Phineas, Ferb and Chris all on the stage. There was a knocking sound and Chris walked over to the door and opened it to Baljeet with Django by his side. "We have come to test each lady to see who fits the slipper left by the woman I love!" Baljeet informed him.

"Alright, come in," Chris stepped aside. "Girls! The prince wishes to see you!"

Phineas and Ferb both rushed up to the prince and tried on the slipper, but it fit neither of them. "You are not my true love," Baljeet told them, and they both glared at him.

"Is there no other lady present in this home?" Baljeet asked Chris nervously.

"Of course not," Chris gave an evil laugh, fanning his face with one hand. "No one of worth."

"What about this charming young lady over here?" Django pointed at Buford.

"I am but a lowly servant in this home!" Buford managed to keep his voice steady, despite how afraid he was. Seeing Chris standing so close to Baljeet was making his situation all to real.

"Listen to her!" Phineas cackled, sounding suitably evil.

"Yes, listen!" Ferb was a lot less enthusiastic, obviously picking up on Buford's mood. He was frowning slightly. "She is dirt, she is nothing."

"Every young woman shall try on the slipper!" Baljeet announced confidently. He strode over to Buford who sat down on one of the lower steps of the staircase. He produced the slipper and slipped it onto Buford's foot, exclaiming at the perfect fit.

"God, he has big feet," Chris muttered under his breath.

"Size doesn't matter," Phineas whispered in response.

"Unless your talking about pe-" Ferb started to say, but was cut off by Baljeet's next line.

"You, dear lady, are my true love!" he grabbed Buford's hands and pulled him up and into a hug.

Buford buried his face into the boy's shoulder, a surge of emotions surprising him. The presence of the smaller teen was surprisingly calming, and he thought that maybe, just maybe, Chris might have been bluffing after all.

"Oh my, you must have gotten it wrong, prince," Chris' voice shattered his illusions. This wasn't in the script- Buford knew Chris was about to out him. Baljeet pulled away from the hug and looked at the blond strangely as he continued. "How on earth could you want this little whore? She's nothing but trash on the side of the road."

He heard a few people gasp at the language Chris was using, but no one made a move to stop him, curious as to where he was going with this. Ferb had an alarmed look on his face, Phineas was frowning and Baljeet looked downright confused. "Fraser, what are you-"

"He's so tarnished in so many ways," Chris continued, dropping all pretenses. He was no longer talking about Cinderella, it was just Buford now. "I mean, he's just a little faggot who likes to take it up the ass."

He began to laugh, the sound echoing around the deadly quiet hall. "Especially by Mummy's darling boyfriend."

Everyone was staring with wide eyes and open mouths. This was not the way the play was supposed to finish. They heard Isabella off stage calling for a teacher, but apparently not one was close by.

"Isn't that right, Van Stomm?" Chris chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. He no doubt felt powerful with all eyes on him. "You loved having Mummy's ex boyfriend give you a quick fuck, right?"

"Excuse me?" this time it was Baljeet who spoke, and the tiny Indian teen looked absolutely furious. "What are you even talking about? You are nuts! What a bunch of lies!"

Buford took a moment to marvel at the fact Baljeet had actually stood up to Chris, but that moment was over soon enough. He knew it was all over. He knew that in a few minutes the amazing, confident, intelligent boy defending him would soon hate him. Tears stung his eyes but he forced them back.

"So that's the secret he was blackmailing you with..." Ferb mumbled quietly. Unfortunately for him, his microphone was still on, and the whole hall heard.

Buford looked up at him in alarm, hissing, "dude! Shut the fuck up!"

Ferb looked suitably horrified and covered his mouth. Baljeet glanced over at Buford looking confused. "Blackmail? What is he talking about, Buford?"

"Oh that?" Chris turned his evil grin onto Baljeet before Buford could even open his mouth. "Don't worry about that, Baljeet, darling. He was just playing around with you so I wouldn't tell everyone that he fucked his mother's boyfriend."

Everyone except Buford and Ferb looked blank. Sighing, the bully elaborated. "Your whole relationship was a sham. He never really liked you, he was just playing you. And you got played."

"What are you...?" Baljeet's eyes travelled over to Buford. "Is this true?"

Buford couldn't speak. There was so much that Chris had left out, but it was all pretty much true anyway. He nodded before looking down at his feet.

"Oh my god," Phineas whispered.

"You lied to me!" Baljeet hissed, and the hurt on his face caused Buford's insides to shrivel up in pure agony. He'd known this was coming but he hadn't expected it to hurt so bad. He stood stock still as Baljeet stalked over to him, went on his tip-toes and slapped him full across the face. The pain in his cheek didn't even compare to his emotions at that moment, and he barely even felt it.

Baljeet gave him one last look of loathing before he brushed past him and stormed off the stage, Buford turning to watch him go. There was a moment a silence and suddenly Phineas was yelling. Buford thought it was at him, but when he looked back, he saw Ferb shake off Phineas' restraining hands, pull Chris around to face him and slam his fist into the blond's face.

Chris landed hard on the floor. A few of the larger guys who'd been helping set up jumped forward to hold Ferb and Chris away from each other. Although Chris was straining against them, swearing and yelling at Ferb, the green-haired teen made no move to hit him again so the larger guys eventually let him go. Phineas looked like he had no idea what to do before he shot Buford a murderous look and took off after Baljeet. Ferb rubbed his knuckles and looked up at Buford, who just turned and left the stage, making sure to go into the opposite wing that Phineas and Baljeet had gone into. Ferb followed him, jogging to catch up.

"Buford-"

"Just leave me alone!"

They were out of the backstage area and in one of the many corridors. His bag was all in one of the changing rooms, but Buford was determined to leave and wasn't going to go back for it. One of the teachers would probably give it to his mother anyway.

"Buford!" Ferb grabbed his arm and forced him to stop. "Is that really what happened?"

"Just fuck off, Fletcher!" the brunet tried to tug his arm away but Ferb held on stubbornly.

"Look, Buford, it's okay! We can sort this ou-"

"No, we can't fucking sort this out!" the bully snarled. "My entire life has just been completely ruined!"

A bit over dramatic, but Buford didn't really care at that point. Baljeet hated him, Phineas hated him, pretty much everyone except Ferb most likely hated him. There was a gaping feeling in his chest, as if someone had ripped out his heart and left him to bled. He was still struggling not to cry.

"Look, just because Chris told everyone you had sex with a guy-"

"It was rape, Ferb," Buford cut in quietly. "I didn't have sex with my mother's boyfriend. He raped me. That's why I didn't want anyone to know."

Ferb's eyes were wide, and it was when the look of pity came onto his face that Buford yanked his arm away and jogged down the corridor, looking for the nearest exit. He couldn't handle any kind of sympathy talk right now. He left Ferb standing motionless in the corridor, too stunned to say anything.

Chris had pretty much achieved what he wanted. Buford's life was ruined and Baljeet was no doubt a mess.

How on earth was Buford going to get through this one?

Xoxoxo

**Phew! I wrote nearly all of that in one go, and it sure is long!**

**So, for the most important chapter of the whole fic, there sure was a lot of humor in it. But the end was suitably angsty and serious. I hope you guys liked? Tell me what you think!**

**Next chapter is the last for Keeping Secrets! The story will then be continued in the next installment of the Secrets Trilogy: Revealing Secrets. **

**You guys should see some of the pictures Ashlee drew as visual aids when she gave me the plan. Some of them are just freakin' priceless. **

**Review? Reviewers get noodles! NOODLES!**


	10. Chapter 10

**This is it, guys. THE LAST CHAPTER! I cried. I actually did. **

**Anyway, so I started a companion fic called Not So Secret and its basically Baljeet's POV in all of this. I wanted to wait to post it until I got this chapter out, so it should be up by the time you've finished reading this. One of you even got a sneak preview of it. So promise you'll go take a look? **

**Buford and Baljeet's adventure is far from over, people. We still have part two (and part three) of the Secrets Trilogy to go! Keep an eye out for those! Plus, you know, the companion fic I mentioned before.**

**Everyone's going on about Thanksgiving and I don't even know what that is. Oh the joys of living in a tiny unimportant country.**

**Enough blabbering and write the fic... Sheesh. I'll gush in the end Author's Note.**

**Here you have it! Enjoy! And I hope you all cry like I did. I'm so evil.**

**WARNING: slash, boy love, guy on guy. Don't like it, don't read. Mentions of rape. Bit more swearing in this one.**

**Disclaimer: if I actually owned anything, we all know Phineas and Ferb would be together. But alas~**

Xoxoxo

His head felt stuffy. Everything hurt. From his head to his chest to the bottoms of his feet. His nose was blocked, his eyes felt swollen. He could hear the clock on his bedside table ticking quietly, cars going by on the street outside his window. His mother was moving around downstairs. She hadn't bothered to come up to talk to him. He hadn't expected her to. Maybe she didn't even know he was home. He had ran all the way back from the hall the play had been held in. For all she knew, he could have been hiding out at Ferb's house or something.

He was curled in the middle of his bed, dressed in only boxers. The room was dark, the only light coming from his open window as the half full moon shone. He sniffed and the sound startled him. God, he was out of it.

He'd only just stopped crying. He'd felt like the terrible pressure on his shoulders had been lifted, and then crashed back down on his chest. It was constricting, his heart beat was painful. Everything was out in the open now, he was no longer worried about people finding out. That had been a relief. And that had been the only good part of the situation. Everything else... was just horrible.

Buford stared out the window. He felt completely and utterly drained. So tired and weary. The crying had really worn him out, and now he was just empty. No more tears, no more happiness. Just sorrow, regret, anger. He was so angry at himself. This whole situation could have been avoided if he'd just said no in the first place. Instead he had dawdled. Gone through with it right up to the last moment. He'd probably hurt Baljeet just as much as he would have if he'd just done what Chris had said.

The streetlights outside were so dim they didn't block out the stars. Those were bright, winking at him almost mockingly. But then he'd remind himself that they were inanimate fucking objects and they couldn't mock him.

God, his life sucked right now.

What in the hell could he say to Baljeet? If the kid would even allow him to anyway. He was pretty sure Baljeet would ignore him for the rest of high school and then move away and never speak to him again. That's what played out in his head anyway. Awkward, tortured days of pretending he wasn't staring at Baljeet out of the corner of his eyes, wishing he could wind back time. Graduation. Being told by someone else that he had left. Never seeing him again.

He groaned and covered his eyes with his hand. There was no point in thinking about shit like that. It'd just make him feel worse. If that were even possible. God, he was so over dramatic. "Stop being such a fucking pussy," he growled to himself.

This went on for maybe half an hour. He wasn't sure, and he sure as hell wasn't watching the clock. Eventually, though, his door did open, and he sat up to see his mother standing there, illuminated from behind by the hallway light. She hesitated, watching him for a moment before rushing towards him and enveloping him in a hug. He was too stunned to do anything but sit there as she held him, but eventually incoherent babbling tumbled from his mouth. He wanted to ask why she wasn't angry at him. Why she was still with him. But he couldn't get it out properly.

"I'm sorry," she whispered in his ear, stopping his mumbling. He paused, listening. Why would she be sorry? There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. "I'm sorry for what he did to you. I'm sorry I left you with him. I'm so sorry, I didn't know."

"It's not like I told you," he managed, his voice gruff. Scratchy.

"No, Ferb did," she replied with a sad smile. Ah. So that's how she knew it hadn't been a consent thing. He vaguely considered having a go at Ferb for telling her but decided against it. It wasn't like he could afford to lose another friend at this point.

His mother pulled him back into a hug and rocked him tightly. It was a little awkward because he was a teenaged boy and she was so small compared to him, but she was his mother. He didn't feel awkward or self conscious, he felt at home. He felt safe. He felt comforted.

"I'm sorry for not coming up sooner, I wasn't sure if you were home," she whispered. He felt tears sting at his eyes. Of course she wasn't angry with him. Why had he gone around with the misconception that she would hate him? She had done nothing but support him. "I love you, sweetie."

He began to cry, pressing his face into her shoulder and trying his best to keep the sobs quiet. His entire frame was shaking with the effort and still she just rocked him, mumbling soft words of comfort over and over, pressing little kisses into his hair until he fell into an exhausted sleep.

xoxoxo

Ferb showed up at his house a few days later. Buford still hadn't left his room but he was still doing the basics such as showering and eating. He owed his mother at least that. Ferb had knocked once before opening, and Buford just stared at him. The green-haired teen had his hands buried in his pockets and he scuffed his foot against the ground awkwardly. They didn't speak but Ferb followed obediently when Buford climbed out the window and went up onto the roof, sitting and staring up at the afternoon sky.

Ferb sat beside him, pressed close, shoulders and knees touching. They didn't speak, just watched the sky and soaked in each other's presence. Buford tried to pretend the last few months had never happened. He wasn't doing so well with that.

It was only when the sun began to set, painting bright orange and soft pink across the sky, that Buford spoke.

"I'm really fucking angry at you right now."

"But you won't accept my apology?" Ferb asked softly.

Buford laughed bitterly and closed his eyes briefly. "Life sucks, Ferb."

When he opened them again, he saw the other teen nodding in agreement, his face as impassive as usual. They fell back into a companionable silence, watching the sunset and the stars slowly come out from hiding. Despite the fact he'd spent the whole day doing pretty much nothing, Buford was exhausted. His sleeping had been erratic, and he found himself waking up at random times throughout the night. He barely even noticed when his head dropped onto Ferb's shoulder.

"All right," the teen sighed, shrugging him off and grabbing his arms. "Let's get you to bed."

He just nodded and followed when Ferb tugged him inside and back into back. Ferb didn't pull the covers over him or anything and Buford was grateful. He was acting like a baby enough already as it was, he didn't need Ferb to coddle him.

Instead the green-haired teen stood by the door, watching as he got himself comfortable. "English is lame without you," the British boy said softly.

"I know."

"Are you coming back anytime soon?"

"Probably not until next year," Buford admitted. It was extremely close to the end of school for the year anyway. He didn't see the point in going back.

"What happened, Buford?" he asked with a sigh.

"Look, I-" he swallowed, trying to work past the lump in his throat. "I had to explain the whole thing to my mother and ended up crying my eyes out like a little girl. I don't want to have to repeat the experience, okay? Go ask her."

"All right," Ferb opened the door and said softly before closing it, "goodnight, Buford."

Buford stared up at the ceiling, wondering vaguely what Baljeet was doing.

xoxoxo

A week later and he'd finally ventured from his room and was sitting on the sofa, watching re-runs of his favourite show. His mother was at work, so he felt safe enough. It wasn't that he didn't want to see her, but he was afraid she'd make a big deal over him out of his room.

School had ended for the year. The school wasn't happy with him or his mother, but the woman stubbornly refused to allow Buford to go back, not that he would have anyway. There was no way he could handle it. Everyone would stare at him, judge him, tell him off. And then he'd have to see Baljeet. He didn't know if he could without crying. God he was sick of crying.

He heard the sound of the front door opening and he tensed, expecting his mother. It was quite a shock when Phineas walked in. The redhead glanced around before spotting him on the sofa and he walked over, sitting himself down beside Buford. He didn't look angry. He didn't look like he was about to yell at Buford. He looked normal.

"So..." he ventured after a moment of awkward silence, the TV having been muted. "Ferb told me everything."

Buford let out a laugh that was half genuine, half bitter. "Of course he did. That's just so fucking typical. He can't keep anything from his precious Phineas."

Phineas' forehead crinkled as he frowned, blue eyes narrowing. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Buford waved away his question. He wasn't about to go and ruin Ferb's life just because his own sucked. And anyway, it wasn't like Ferb knew any better until a week ago. "Just forget what I said."

"All right..." the boy paused and stared at Buford hard. "Is it true? What Ferb told me?"

The bully didn't reply, but his silence must have been enough. Phineas surprised him by standing and rummaging through one of the drawers beside the TV before pulling out a movie and putting it in to play. When he sat back down, his hand covered Buford's and entwined their fingers together, instantly causing tears to sting at the larger boy's eyes again.

It wasn't anything romantic, it was just a comfort thing. Phineas had always been innocent and unabashed when he comforted other males, and this was just yet another example. The movie was a comedy, something stupid that Buford had seen a thousand times. Phineas laughed at the jokes without restraint and eventually Buford did too, although his were tinged with sadness.

When the movie was finished Phineas pulled him into a tight hug that only brought back the need to cry. He was so close to Baljeet's size that it brought back bittersweet memories that he'd been repressing as much as he could. When the redhead pulled back, he pressed a sweet, innocent kiss to Buford's cheek. "I'm sorry. I really am. For getting angry at you without knowing the full story, for what happened to you. Just... everything."

Buford couldn't say anything and Phineas smiled at him before leaving. His mother found him an hour later, crying quietly on the couch with his head in his hands. She sat beside him and hugged him, just as she had done almost every night since the play. "I won't leave you. I'll never let you go."

xoxoxo

"He's been sentenced. He won't be bothering you ever again."

He and Ferb glanced up at his mother's voice. It was a few days later. The court case had been today, against his mother's ex. Buford had refused to go along. He hadn't seen the man in years and he wanted to keep it that way, giving a statement had been hard enough. Ferb was with him to keep him company. He wondered if his mother had set that up, worried he'd do something stupid like get into the liqueur cabinet.

Ferb smiled sadly in the woman's direction. Buford only nodded shortly and pushed past them both, heading up to his room.

Ferb sat vigil by his bed that night. It had gotten to the point where neither of them cared about 'acting tough' and keeping their distances. Ferb was holding his hand tightly as Buford buried his face into his pillow, choking back sobs and trying not to relive every moment spent in his mother's ex boyfriend's company. Everytime his shoulders shook with the effort, Ferb would squeeze his hand and the pain would recede somewhat. He was thankful.

xoxoxo

It was a week, maybe two, into the holidays when Isabella showed up. Her lips were in a thin line when she barged inside and stood in front of Buford, who had been in the kitchen grabbing a drink. Phineas and Ferb had come in from the living room, having heard her enter, and were standing in the doorway. All three wondered if she was going to hit him.

Instead she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face into his chest. After a moment of stunned silence he returned the hug. When she pulled away, she looked up at him with a half smile. "Chris Fraser is the most disgusting, horrible person on the planet and I swear, Buford, I'll make him pay."

He only blinked stupidly at her. He didn't bother to wonder who had told her the full story. He didn't care now, anyway. He found it hard to care about a lot of things lately.

"Come on," she tugged on his hand. "Show me where all your baking things are. We're going to make some cookies."

"...What?" he stood still, completely uncomprehending. His reaction skills weren't at their best. Ferb rolled his eyes and showed Isabella where the baking things were. He was around there so often he knew where everything was no problem.

She pulled out the flour and baking powder and various other items, fixing him with a hard stare. "Come on, Buford. You can't just sit in your house, wallowing in self pity. If you won't go outside then you can at least do something productive. Pre-heat the oven, would you?"

Her little speech surprised him so much he did as he was told, wandering over to the oven with a lost expression as Phineas snickered in the background.

His mother burst into tears when she came home to the house smelling of cookies and Buford laughing when Isabella smeared dough on his cheek. Ferb was watching with a smile and Phineas was laughing, having joined in with the baking.

It was the first time he'd laughed, _really _laughed, in a long time.

xoxoxo

Things had slowly been picking up until Ferb finally convinced Buford to go outside. He'd become paranoid, constantly thinking their classmates would be waiting for him, waiting to punish him for what he did to Baljeet. It had been some time since he'd left the house, apart from his little forays onto the roof. He'd refused flat out everytime his mother begged him to just go outside, even for a little while.

Eventually, though, Ferb had gotten fed up. And it was now, a week after Isabella's acceptance of him, that he finally stepped outside of his house, breath fogging in front of him on such a cold day.

Ferb stayed close by his side, understanding how big a step this was for him. They were both dressed warmly, gloves, scarfs and hats secured on their persons. His fists had clenched when they made it out onto the street, and his jaw had done so when they passed one of their classmates. The girl only stared as she went past, never once glaring or making a comment. Buford had relaxed a little afterwards.

They made it to the shop, a little dairy about a block away from Buford's house, without any trouble. They'd gone inside and Ferb bought them both a chocolate bar. It was probably his way of rewarding the bully for finally going outside. They'd left the shop and made it half way back when things went wrong.

Buford stopped dead in his tracks and Ferb did too, looking confused. Chris Fraser was sitting on the low fence of one of the houses on the street, smoking and looking carefree. He hadn't seen them, but he looked up after a few seconds. His eyes met Buford's and he saw the brief confusion, then recognition, and then pure glee. The blond smiled and waved at them both.

Buford felt like he was going to be sick. They took an alternate route back home and Ferb spent the rest the the afternoon telling him it was going to be okay.

xoxoxo

They were watching a movie, he, his mother and Ferb, when Buford finally spoke up, catching their attention with the tone of his voice. His heart was beating hard afterwards- it had just tumbled out without him paying much attention. "You know, when I was raped, a lot of the time it felt like it never happened to me. I mean, yeah, it happened, but I felt disconnected, you know?"

They both stared at him with wide eyes. Ferb looked shocked and sympathetic. His mother's eyes were filling with tears. It had been hard on her, knowing something so horrible had happened to her son, but she had never complained once, always being there for Buford.

"I-I..." he stumbled over the words, feeling tears sting at his eyes as he finally, after all these years, faced the situation and what had happened to him. He could almost feel those hands on him again. He could almost see it again, his vision both picking up the room in front of him and the memories so strong that had surged to the front of his mind. "I was raped. Oh, God... I-I was..."

A choked sob cut him off and Ferb, who had been sitting beside him on the couch, immediately put an arm around his shoulder. His mother stood from her lounge chair and sat on his other side, hugging him, the movie forgotten.

He felt a little less dirty when he finished crying.

xoxoxo

Things improved steadily from there.

Isabella turned up every now and again, pulling Buford out of his moping and forcing him to bake with her, or cook, or clean. She even started teaching him to knit despite his protests. She was like a wake up call for him, telling him that the world went on no matter how depressed he felt, and that he needed to grow some balls and get over it. She'd never actually said that, but he knew it was what she meant.

Phineas visited almost every second day and they would sit down and watch a movie together, or he'd bring around new inventions to try out.

Ferb was always there. The guest room had practically become his. He went home maybe once or twice a week, more often now that Buford was starting to recover. He and Buford spent most of their time just hanging out and trying to act like everything was normal, but they did go for rides occasionally, going to see Knobblies. They spent some time fixing their bikes and improving them.

Buford had run into Chris again when he, Phineas and Ferb had went for a walk, passing through the school. The blond, who'd been leaning against one of the walls of the deserted school, pushed himself into a proper standing position and sauntered over to them. "Well, well, well, if it isn't-"

He was cut off by Buford swinging at his face, his fist connecting with the boy's cheek with a satisfying crunch. Ferb burst out laughing, the show of emotion quite rare. Phineas had his hands covering his mouth, his eyes wide, but he made no move to stop Buford. They'd left Chris there, holding his cheek and howling with blood spurting from his nose.

They'd run into him again almost a week later. The blond's face was bruised and battered, and he looked pissed off. He cornered them, just Buford and Ferb this time, as they'd gone for a walk around the block. He stood in front of the brunet, hands on his hips, sneering. "Go on, Van Stomm, hit me again. Hit me, you son of a bitch, and see if I'll show you mercy this time."

Ferb was grinning proudly when Buford just turned and walked away, refusing to retaliate. He wanted to be the better man. And it felt good, too, hearing Chris screaming at them as they walked away, and feeling Ferb clap him on the back.

Hopefully that would be the last he ever saw of Chris Fraser.

xoxoxo

It was about three months since the play. Buford and Ferb were sitting in his room, playing a game of cards. Buford had been in mid-laugh when the door opened, revealing a nervous looking Baljeet.

He felt his heart jump to his throat, felt his breath catch. The Indian looked the same as he always did, and it made his heart pound. His hands felt sweaty. Nothing was said, but Ferb packed up the cards and left, patting Baljeet on the shoulder on his way out.

There was a nervous silence and they both stared at each other, drinking the other in. Eventually Baljeet closed the door behind him and sat on the edge of the bed, leaving a bit of space between himself and Buford. There was another silence, this time longer, before the dark-skinned teenager spoke. "Phineas told me your side of the story."

Of course he fucking did. Buford let out a bitter laugh but didn't reply.

"Why did you not tell me?" Baljeet's voice grew stronger, anger lacing with his words.

"Because something like that _definitely _comes up in conversation," Buford replied sarcastically, refusing to meet the other's eyes.

Baljeet frowned and Buford saw the grip he had on the sheets of the bed tighten. He spoke again, and this time his words were snapped, full of hurt and anger. "Why did you lie to me?"

"I didn't lie!" he argued hoarsely. "I just... never told you."

"And what if we had gotten to the sexual stage?" Baljeet hissed, his face flushed with both anger and a little embarrassment at what he had just said. "What would have happened, Buford? Would you have freaked out? For goodness sake, you freaked out when I touched your knee."

Buford glanced away, running the questions over in his mind. What would happen when he eventually wanted to get sexual? Would he be able to handle it? He hoped he would. His mother's ex had already ruined his life so much. He didn't want yet another thing ruined.

"Buford, why did you let Chris Fraser blackmail you?"

Anger bubbled up, so much repressed rage and hurt and fury, and he turned on Baljeet, hands clenched into fists. "DO YOU THINK I WANTED TO DO THAT TO YOU? YOU THINK I WANTED TO HURT YOU? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT IT FELT LIKE K-"

Baljeet flinched when he started yelling but seemed unable to listen to the rant. He held up his hand and cut Buford off. "Did you even love me? Like me? Have feelings for me at all? Because one thing that stood out to me was the fact you convinced me so fucking well."

He was surprised at the cursing but didn't comment, choosing instead to answer the question and try to sound as honest as possible. He wanted Baljeet to believe him. "If there was one thing about this whole mess that wasn't a lie," he reached out and took Baljeet's hand, both of them jolting at the contact. It had been so long. "It was my feelings for you."

"I want you to be honest with me," Baljeet said softly. "I want you to tell me everything. Your entire story. And from now own, you will never lie to me. Okay?"

Buford gulped and stared at him, realizing he was being thrown a line. Although they had never officially broken up, he knew it would be over if he didn't go along with those requests. But he couldn't face telling his story again. Telling his mother had almost broken him. And he couldn't make a promise to open up and never lie. He was too damaged for that. So he slowly shook his head. "I can't. I'm sorry, I can't."

Baljeet stared up at him, eyes searching. They stayed like that and he didn't pull his hand away. Buford hoped that maybe he would be forgiven. That everything would turn out okay.

"I am sorry, Buford," Baljeet said gently, closing his eyes and seemingly struggling with what he was saying. When he opened his eyes, they were watery, but he didn't cry. "But I can not date someone who wishes to keep secrets from me. Keeping secrets is not a part of a relationship."

He squeezed Buford's hand once before pulling it away and standing, moving over to the door. There he paused, looking back over his shoulder. "I never stopped loving you, you know," he said softly. Buford couldn't breathe, his chest felt so tight and constricted. Baljeet let out a bitter little laugh and continued. "Even when I did not know the whole story and all I wanted to do was cry and yell and scream at you, I still loved you."

He faced the door again, his voice quiet. "Maybe when we have matured more, when you are not keeping secrets, we could attempt to fix this. I do not know if I mean our friendship or our relationship," he gulped audibly. "I am going back to India, just for a holiday. My parents decided I needed some time away. I am not sure when I will be back, but I will call you once I am."

He hesitated and glanced back. Buford had no doubt he looked absolutely stunned and upset. Baljeet opened the door and hurried out, forgetting to close it in his haste. Buford could hear the footsteps down the stairs, knew the boy was running. Running from Buford.

He put one hand over his eyes, trying to fight back the tears, while the other dropped down to grab the sheets on his bed and twist them, attempting to escape the fresh pain in his heart. All that progress, all the recovering he had done, was all gone. He was back to square one, back to sobbing like a child in his room, back to hating himself for what he'd done, back to wishing he could turn back time.

He felt fingers on the hand twisted the bed covers, intertwining them and forcing his to drop the material. He glanced up through watery eyes to see Ferb sitting beside him, who pulled him into a tight hug. Buford rested his forehead on the green-haired teen's shoulder. Closing his eyes tightly against the tears. "You won't leave me, right?" he forced out, struggling not to sob.

Ferb hugged him all the tighter. "Never."

Xoxoxo

**And there we go. Sorry for the sad ending and slight cliffhanger. It's supposed to lead in to the next part, Revealing Secrets.**

**I burst into tears again at the end. I can't tell you how many times I've cried today. Ashlee didn't help. She wrote some seriously cute little one-shots AND THEN SHE KILLED FERB AT THE END OF BOTH OF THEM. I was so upset she wrote the fluffiest fucking one-shot I've ever read and it cheered me up.**

**Babbling. Right. Okay.**

**Buford cried a lot in this, didn't he? Poor Buford. I expect Baljeet would have been crying more. Poor kid. You'll just have to find out in Not So Secret.**

**So, I am SO thankful to each and every one of you for reading this, and reviewing, and favouriting, and following. I'm happy you all enjoyed and I hope you will all stick around for the second and third parts of the trilogy (it will have a happy ending! I swear!)**

**I'm not sure when Revealing Secrets will be out, but it will be soon! I'll nag Ashlee until she gets around to planning it. She only has one exam left (as do I, Classical Studies) so afterwards she shall have no excuse! Hah!**

**Not So Secret, Baljeet's version of Keeping Secrets, will be out now. For realz, it's up now. Go to my profile and check it out!**

**I thought I should just point out that Ferb and Buford just have a serious bromance going on. In no point in the sequels will there be anything more than that!**

**THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU ALL FOR READING. **

**I love each and every one of you, and I'm looking forward to hearing from you again! If you want sneak previews of whatever I'm working on, don't hesitate to ask. I'll probably be desperate for some opinions on them before I post them. And don't hesitate to PM me, either. I love talking to you guys about anything and everything.**

**Hopefully there won't be a long gap between this and part two. I'll miss you all until then!**

**Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you think!**

**Review? Reviewers get anything they freaking want! ANYTHING THEY FREAKING WANT! **


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